Claims apart, paddy piling up at mandis

Claims apart, paddy piling up at mandis
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 11
Despite the claims of the government that lifting of paddy from the mandis has accelerated, the problem is still far from over.
SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, during his recent visit, had asked the local administration to remove the heaps of paddy within 24 hours. But in reality, the paddy glut is still visible at the grain markets of Bathinda district.
During a random visit to Goniana, Har Raipur, Janda Wala and some other villages in the district, it was found that huge piles of paddy were waiting to be packed in jute bags. Moreover, the mandis were cluttered with jute bags, which had not been taken to the shellers.
An elderly farmer, Gurnam Singh, of village Har Rai Pur, who was sitting on a heap of paddy said, "It has been eight days that I have been sitting here. But till date, neither have I got a place to clean the crop nor has it been purchased."
"It is all due to the poor state of lifting as the mandi is full of paddy and my turn will come only when the bags of others are removed," he rued.
Pawan Kumar and Gopal Ram, arhtiyas present there, alleged that sheller owners were behaving in an indifferent way.
"They have been rejecting the bags of paddy which had been purchased by government agencies. It is just to harass the farmers as they know that this time there has been a bumper crop."
At village Jandawala, farmers said this menace was just due to the callous attitude of the contractors supposed to lift the paddy. "Contractors have been using less number of vehicles and the number of labourers deployed for the job is also less than required due to which we all will have to wait for some days."
Talking over the phone, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Congress MLA from Nathana, said, "I have visited a number of grain markets in the constituency today and found that the tall claims made by Sukhbir Singh Badal have fallen flat. In the absence of any other option, farmers are still waiting for the lifting of paddy."
RPS Pawar, principal secretary to the government, who was in Bathinda to attend a sports event, said, "I agree that the problem is there but it has its reasons. First, we had not expected such a bumper crop. Secondly, the ban imposed on exports and private firms refraining from purchase has also added to the problem."
"Shellers too lack the capacity to store. Shortage of labour and carriage vehicles have also added to the problem. But now to resolve the problem, the state machinery has geared up and within coming weeks, the results would be for every one to see," he added
Meanwhile, Darbara Singh Guru, principal secretary to CM, who was also in Bathinda today, said that orders had been issued to ensure early lifting of paddy and payment within 48 hours.