Rabi procurement: Stand-off continues over direct payments to Punjab farmers

Graduation of rabi procurement is just a week absent (envisioned April 10), but no finish is in sight to the stand-off amongst the Centre and the Punjab federal government about immediate payments for the foodgrains procured. Ironically, no person, including farmers who are ostensibly the beneficiaries of the immediate funds transfer, is pleased with the shift.

The Ministry of Client Affair, Food stuff and General public Distribution experienced educated the Punjab federal government that DBT to farmers is obligatory for the coming rabi wheat procurement year. Even so, the Condition has refused to employ it, and has sought appointment with Primary Minister Narendra Modi to examine the difficulty and defer the scheme for at minimum one particular 12 months.

Arhtiyas opposed to shift

Arhtiyas, or fee brokers, in Punjab are up in arms against the shift. In accordance to them, it is aimed at destroying APMC (Agricultural Deliver Promoting Committee) mandis and giving everything on a platter to non-public players, whom the BJP-led NDA federal government at the Centre desires to promote.

“The recent method of payment ( as a result of fee brokers) has been in place for the last fifty years and has labored very well. Even farmers do not have any complaints about it. We have been spending down to the last penny to farmers instantly,” reported Vijay Kalra, President, Federation of Arhtiya Affiliation of Punjab. Arhtiyas system to maintain a significant protest meet in Moga on Monday, in which quite a few farmers leaders are also envisioned to participate.

Cumbersome for farmers

Balbir Singh Rajewal, President, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal), reported the shift is not in favour of farmers in the Condition. “It is heading to make it cumbersome for farmers to offer their deliver at procurement centres. Each time a farmer can take the deliver to the mandi, he has to deliver evidence of his landholding. Almost 40 for every cent of land in Punjab is owned by absentee landlords who have presented their land to tenants for cultivation. However the Centre argues that these kinds of tenants can sign-up their contracts with landlords in get to get the DBT, how quite a few landlords would occur forward as they will dread getting rid of their holdings to tenants who have been tilling the land for quite a few years,” questioned Rajewal.

He reported the DBT difficulty arrived up a couple years ago when Parkash Singh Badal was the Chief Minister. “When that federal government sought the view of farmers on this difficulty, only a few farmers supported it. The farmers have assurance in fee brokers, who have been making payments to them instantly,” Rajewal informed BusinessLine.

In accordance to Kalra, insistence of land records as evidence led to 22 for every cent fewer paddy procurement in Haryana in the preceding kharif year.The shift, he says, is only an try to dismantle the Food stuff Corporation of India so that non-public firms can get its place. Farmers across the nation will maintain demonstrations against any shift to scrap the FCI, Rajewal included.

‘Wrong timing’

A different farmer chief, reported the timing of the Centre was mistaken, even while he was not completely against the thought. “It is currently being implemented in the midst of a farmer agitation. Next, there should have been a guide time of at minimum six months for bringing these kinds of a drastic adjust, not just one particular thirty day period as is the situation now,” he reported.

Gurdeep Kamra of the Fee Brokers Affiliation in Haryana, which implemented the scheme this 12 months, reported the DBT will not get the job done and Haryana would see a massive range of farmers hitting the road as payments are not heading to be easy.

“While arhtiyas would get two.5 for every cent fee for the products and services they give these kinds of as procurement, their involvement in procurement is heading to be limited in the new method. Previously, arhtiyas applied to guarantee the high-quality of grains they procured. But now on they will procure regardless of what the farmers provide in. If the high-quality of grains is inferior (these kinds of as significant moisture amounts) their payments may perhaps get stuck, top to significant disgruntlement among farmers,” Kamra reported, expressing assurance that the Condition would revert to the earlier method from quite next 12 months.