BHADRAK: Even as the authorities of the district Civil Supplies Department claimed to have purchased paddy as per the target, farmers in Bhadrak district alleged that they are being forced to sell their produce at throwaway price.Farmers’ leader Chandra Sekhar Nayak said while the minimum support price (MSP) has been fixed Rs 1,080 per quintal, farmers have been selling paddy at Rs 500 to 600 per quintal to the traders as the district officials refused to purchase it citing funds crunch.Sources said the district was given a procurement target of 1.99 lakh MT of paddy during 2011-12 kharif season. As per the records, the Civil Supplies officials purchased 1.81 lakh MT of paddy. While the officials claimed that they had bought paddy through self-help groups (SHGs), pani panchayats, cooperative societies, NAFED, MARKFED and millers, farmers refuse to buy the claim.Nayak alleged that the officials were lying when they claimed to have reached the target.“The entire district reeled under drought after a series of floods during the kharif season and the paddy fields were badly damaged. From whom did the officials procure such a huge quantity of paddy?” he questioned. Sources at the Agriculture Department said the district had produced nearly 37,000 MT of paddy during rabi season. As the Civil Supplies officials refused to purchase the paddy, farmers are now worried about huge losses. Charampa Pani Panchayat president Antaryami Upadhyay blamed the faulty policies of the government for the distress sale of paddy. He said the government had been encouraging cultivation of high yielding paddy varieties, but apparently not paying attention to procurement.“Though we have raised the issue at the district-level paddy procurement meetings several times, no measure has been taken yet to streamline it,” he said.Meanwhile, District Congress Committee president Badri Narayan Dhal has demanded an inquiry to ascertain how many quintals of paddy had actually been procured. “Procurement has been done only on pen and paper. Officials have recycled the rice allotted from different schemes and shown it in the procurement sheet,” he alleged.While the district Civil Supplies Officer could not be contacted for comment, an official of the department denied the allegation and said they had sent a letter to the Supplies Department to procure 28,000 MT more of paddy.
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