No buyers for wheat in mandi, farmers irked

Lovleen Bains

Doraha, April 19

Slow lifting of wheat at Doraha mandi has created a literal mess. The arhtiyas and farmers are at the mercy of procuring agencies for receiving payments. Even a single penny has not been paid to arhtiyas and farmers.

Due to endless waiting for the procurement agencies, the farmers have begun to show their ire against the Congress government which they say is different in no way. “All assurances have been falsified. Neither the lifting is systematic nor the payment. In fact, no payment has been made yet,” shared the frustrated farmers who individually recited their tale of woes in the mandi.

“I am using tarpaulin to protect the crop due to cloudy weather but once it pours, the moisture content is going to increase which will make procurement more tedious affair. Every time we come with a hope to find a healthy change in the system of procurement and payment but every time the situation remains the same or becomes more complex,” shared a farmer of Gidri village who brought his produce on Monday.

President, Artiya Association, Ram Kamal Mohindra, said, “We have been supporting the farmers since the past six months from our own resources but those too have almost dried up now. As the lifting officially began on the first of this month, the payment for the same should have been made by now. The sorry state of affairs is that even the bill prepared on the first day is yet in clearance and even a single penny eludes us.”

Doraha Market Committee Secretary, Birinder Singh Sidhu, when contacted said, till date a total of 6,763 metric tons of wheat has been purchased. “The procurement is going on as per the 72-hour lifting specifications of the government. It is due to less space that the mandi seems to be over-brimmed.”

“The agencies have visited the grain market today and assured the farmers and the artiyas that the cards have been swiped and the necessary obligations for cash payment have been cleared at the district-level well. It is the banks which are yet to transfer the payment to the accounts of the artiyas which shall be done by today evening or by tomorrow morning,” added Sidhu.