Rushikulya Royat Mahasabha Alleges Flaws in Ganjam Paddy Procurement

Rushikulya Royat Mahasabha approached the Ganjam Collector on alleged irregular procurement of paddy for this year’s kharif season. Members of Rushikulya Royat Mahasabha stated that an estimated total of over 1 lakh farmers have just registered to sell paddy whereas over 1 lakh farmers have not yet registered to sell their paddy.

According to sources, the organization has informed that middlemen have been responsible for purchasing paddy off the hands of farmers which also ought to be convenient for farmers to save transportation cost to the government drop houses. 

Norms imply that 60 lakh quintal of paddy can be sold by each registered farmer, whereas only 40 lakh quintal has been approved as a target by the district administration. Due to surplus cultivation this year, many farmers have sold their paddy to middlemen at lower rates to save added costs. 

The middlemen, reportedly, pursue farmers to sell their paddy directly to millers, who pick up the crops from the farmers whereas, farmers to sell to the government have to bear travel costs to collection centers. Apart from that, the collection process set up at each block is a time-consuming process, to cut that farmers have been preferring middle men.

Rushikulya Royat Mahasabha remains concerned about the exploitation of farmers by middlemen who pay less but farmers due to delay from the government resort to it. The registration of farmers is to expire on the 21st of January 2023 for this season, leaving the farmers with leftover harvest. 

The reported Collector of Ganjam, however, verified that no such visible exploitation has been witnessed and farmers would be able to submit their paddy by the stipulated time or even after. According to him more than one third of farmers have submitted their harvest and more are yet to do so and will be able to even after the last date set by the government.

Rushikulya Rayat Mahasabha is non-political farmer’s Union operating since 1991, after the flood in Ganjam district of Odisha. They have been aiding marginal farmers, sharecroppers as well as agricultural wage earners to improve their socio-economic condition, checking any exploitation on their behalf.