Rules say payment within 72 hrs, awaited for mustard sold in April

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, May 20

Naveen Pandit, a farmer of Kot village in Jhajjar, is a harried man. Yet to receive payment for his mustard crop the agencies procured last month, he has skipped his loan instalment. He will not only have to pay penalty now, but may be denied subsidy too.

“I sold 25 quintals of mustard on April 16, but have not been paid so far even though as per the rules, it should have been done within 72 hours of procurement,” he says. Many other farmers are in the same boat. One of them, Raj Singh of Jondhi village, says he has yet to pay wages to the labour. 

“Not one farmer has received money since April 16 when procurement of mustard at the Jhajjar grain market began. In all, a payment of Rs 15 crore is due,” claims Narender Kumar, president of the Commission Agents’ Association, Jhajjar.

Ashok Sharma, District Food and Supplies Controller, says payments could not be released for technical reasons. “The process to transfer money to bank accounts of farmers who sold mustard on April 16 and 17 has been initiated,” he adds.

Mustard in Jhajjar district has been procured by both HAFED and the Food and Supplies Department. HAFED began procurement on March 15, on behalf of the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation,  and the Food and Supplies Department on April 16. It came to a halt in mid-May. 

HAFED chairman Harvinder Kalyan admits delay  but points out that it is the Food and Supplies Department which is to release the money directly. “There has been a delay since online procurement has been launched for the first time,” he reasons.