Farmers rue poor facilities at grain market

Nikhila Pant Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 18

The district administration may be claiming that it has made all requisite arrangements for farmers’ convenience at the local grain market, but those who are staying there to safeguard their yield have a different story to tell.

With the weather becoming harsh and dry and sometimes unpredictable, the primary concern of the farmers is to save their produce from stray animals.

Farmers said the problem of stray animals eating the wheat lying in the open was so grave that they would be left with no option but to guard the grain at night since there was no boundary wall around the market.

“Every season, we keep a vigil at night. This also safeguards wheat from thieves looking to pilfer the grain at night. There are almost eight roads leading to the grain market which are open to all and this raises our concerns regarding theft and stray cattle,” said Data Ram of Katar Singh Wala village.

No proper arrangement for potable water and lack of toilet facility at the grain market are also other problems that the farmers are facing.

“A water tank is all that the administration provides to farmers in the name of drinking water. Every single household, even in villages, tries to drink RO water. We have no option but to either drink water from the tank or look for RO water from the nearby residential areas,” said Gurcharan Singh, a farmer.

Harbhajan Singh, a farmer from Jassi Pau Wali village, said the grain market was also grappling with the problem of cleanliness.

“There are heaps of cow dung in and around the market. Apart from a foul smell emanating from these, they also turn into breeding grounds for flies and insects which then trouble us. We wonder if it is a grain market or a cattle pound,” he rued.

On condition of anonymity, a farmer said though there was a public toilet near the grain market, sometimes it was locked. “Despite the fact that there is only one toilet that is used by all farmers and labourers, but it is not even properly cleaned. Sometimes it is locked and we have to go to the toilets inside the nearby shops,” he alleged.

“We expect that the lifting will pick up pace in the coming days. Truck operators have been allotted tenders and hopefully, they will not create any problem for us. Another concern is timely payment for our yields. The farmers are always made to wait for the payment for the wheat grain which is procured by agencies,” said Sukhcharan Singh of Katar Singh Wala village.

Bathinda market officer Balkar Singh said, “We have made all requisite arrangements for the farmers. As far as the stray cattle menace is concerned, we have deployed two guards for the morning hours and two for the evening hours.”