Arhtiyas, millers join hands with SKM over tardy purchase
In a rare show of unity, the arhtiyas and rice millers today joined hands with the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) to protest against the tardy paddy procurement. They decided to continue with their protest by not procuring paddy, till their demands were met.
The three major stakeholders in the paddy procurement have also announced to launch a coordinated agitation by holding a “chakka jam” protest across the state from 12 noon to 3 pm on Sunday.
Immediately after they announced their decision, representatives of all three constituents of the forum were called for a meeting by Chief Secretary KAP Sinha. The meeting lasted for over three hours, but remained inconclusive.
Moisture checkpoints at Amritsar mandis
- To tackle the problem of farmers bringing paddy having high moisture content, the district administration has set up checkpoints at the entry gates of mandis.
- Only those tractor-trailers that carry grains with moisture content less than the permissible limit of 17% are being allowed in the mandis.
- As the Centre has set the maximum limit of moisture at 17%, the government procurement agencies are unable to procure such produce at MSP.
- Farmers have to sell it to private traders who purchase it by applying a cut in the MSP. However, it causes a shortage of space in the mandis as such produce is left in the open for drying up for a couple of days.
- With paddy harvesting picking up pace in the coming days, arrival in mandis will also increase. TNS
SKM leader Jangveer Singh Chauhan said the rice millers offered to mill paddy without entering into agreements, but the government did not agree. “Another meeting has been convened on October 14,” he added.
Though it’s been 11 days since the paddy procurement began, the commission agents and the rice millers have refused to participate in the process, in spite of the assurances given by CM Bhagwant Mann.
As of date, 4.56 lakh metric tonne (LMT) paddy has arrived in the mandis, of which 82% has been purchased. However, because of the rice millers refusing to enter into agreements with government agencies, only 20,327 MT (around 5%) paddy has been lifted so far, leading to a glut in mandis.
The joint group of three stakeholders has said if their demands are not met, they will also seek support from other trade unions to launch a protest on October 14. The announcement was made on Friday by SKM leaders, both associations of arhtiyas and two associations of rice millers.
“This is an agitation to save Punjab and its agrarian economy. There will be no movement of vehicles on Sunday for three hours. While the Centre has been meting out a step-motherly treatment to the state for four years, the state government is also no good. It’s been 11 days since the procurement began, but the government has failed to get all stakeholders on board,” said SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, the architect of the newly formed joint forum of arhtiyas, millers and farmer unions.
The millers and arhtiyas (led by Vijay Kalra and Ravinder Singh Cheema) said they were forced to launch the agitation as their demands had not been met.
Rice millers’ representatives Tarsem Saini and Bharat Bhushan Binta said they would not mill hybrid varieties of paddy till the government relaxed the out-turn ratio for these varieties.
AAP, BJP failing farmers: Bajwa
Chandigarh: Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday criticised the state and the central governments for their alleged failure in addressing the agricultural crisis in Punjab. He said both governments failed to address the issues faced by the agrarian community. “The incompetence of AAP in Punjab and the BJP at the Centre is pushing the state towards an unprecedented crisis,” Bajwa said.
