Odisha: Farmers dump paddy over token lapse

SAMBALPUR: Enraged by the non -procurement of paddy, farmers under the Resham Market Yard of Bargarh district on Monday dumped the paddy bags in front of the main gate of the office of Bargarh district collector and at the entrance gate of the chief civil supply officer’s office. They also staged dharna demanding regeneration of tokens that have lapsed and procurement of paddy from the market yards.
According to farmers, paddy of many farmers has not been procured as their tokens have lapsed. Farmer leader Hara Bania said, “According to rules, it is compulsory for the farmers to bring the paddy to the market yard within 12 days after receiving the token and sell it in three days. But 15-day time limit is very short. Many farmers failed to harvest and bring their paddy to the market yard within 12 days of receiving the tokens. As a result, the tokens lapsed.
Also, many farmers could not harvest their crop due to the untimely rain and early monsoon, though they had received the tokens and hence, their token lapsed. Moreover, tokens of some farmers lapsed as they failed to sell paddy within the stipulated time due to server problems, though they had brought the paddy to the market yard.
Many farmers were being forced to resort to distress sale as they failed to sell the paddy in market yards after their token lapsed.
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