Farmers threaten stir, want paddy lifting to pick up pace

The slow pace of paddy procurement in the mandis is giving a difficult time to the farmers. Heaps of paddy waiting to be lifted can be seen lying in the mandis and farmers can be seen keeping a vigil over their produce reaped after a hard toil.

“Lifting has not yet started and it is giving us a real difficult time. Sometimes it is the weather due to which we have to face losses and sometimes it is a man-made situation because of which we land in problems. It is always the farmers who have to bear the loss,” said Ajaib Singh, a farmer from village Malakpur.

Another farmer, Davinder Singh, who was also seen waiting for the purchase of his produce, said that first the government asked them to sow short-term variety of paddy, and now the produce is not being purchased. “If we do not follow the government orders, then we are fined like in case of stubble burning, and if we follow the government orders, like sowing short-duration varieties, then also we land in problems,” he said.

“The time for sowing wheat is also near and we have not been able to sell our paddy produce so far. The government should speed up the process, otherwise we will be left with no other option but to start an agitation,” said Gulkirat Singh from Jodhan village.