Sleepless nights for growers in mandis

Harwinder Singh, a marginal farmer from Rajpura, is spending sleepless nights in the grain market waiting for his produce to be procured.

“I feel like a homeless person. Other than guarding crop, farmers are constantly being told about higher moisture content in their produce,” said Harwinder, who requested an arhtiya to allow his elderly father use their washroom for some days as he suffers from urinary infection. “We eat and sleep on trailers as there is paddy glut in the mandis,” he added. Jagtar Singh Matara of Nadampur village said he had spent six days in the grain market. “Earlier, there was no proper space to dry paddy. Now, the procurement process is slow. After waiting for two days, I brought my charpoy and utensils at the grain market,” he said. Another 53-year-old farmer Hardeep Singh and his daughter have spent three days at Patran grain market. She is accompanying her father as he has a heart ailment. “The unfavourable weather at nights has affected our produce,” he said.

A senior official said, “The problem was witnessed initially as rice millers had completely refused to accept the stock. Barring those farmers who do not bring their crop as per permissible moisture content, there is no problem at all.”

An official said the lifting needs to be done at the earliest as more paddy would arrive in mandis around Diwali.

Meanwhile, cops are on their toes and keeping tabs on protesting farmers. “Directions are to keep guard near the mandis,” said a DSP-rank officer.