2 months on, Jhajjar farmers yet to get paid for bajra

Ravinder Saini

Jhajjar, December 8

The state government’s claim of making payment to bajra growers within 72 hours of the procurement of their produce has fallen flat as over 100 farmers in the district are yet to get paid even after two months.

The affected farmers are compelled to make rounds of the local grain market to get updates about their payment. Some of them need the money to repay their loans. The bajra produce was procured by HAFED in October.

The Centre had fixed Rs 2,350 per quintal as the MSP for bajra, but the state had decided on Rs 1,900 per quintal. The state had also announced to give the remaining Rs 450 per quintal to the farmers under the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana to fill the gap between the MSP and the procurement price.

“Over 100 bajra farmers have been struggling to get their payment for the past two months. A majority of them sold their produce to HAFED in the first week of October when the government rate was below Rs 1,900 per quintal. They are persistently contacting us to get updates about their payment as the produce is procured through commission agents,” said Satbir Singh Malhan, president, Jhajjar Grain Market Commission Agents’ Association.

He said the issue had been brought into the knowledge of the local HAFED authorities several times but the farmers got nothing except hollow assurances. Many farmers even called on the Deputy Commissioner (DC) yesterday and urged him to get their payment released at the earliest, Malhan added.

Amit Punia, a farmer from Girawar village, said he had sold 10 quintals of bajra to the government agency on October 3 for Rs 1,880 a quintal but not a single penny had so far been released to him despite approaching the authorities many times. Some other farmers of his village were also facing a similar situation.

Joginder of Bathera village and Jaipal Bhardwaj of Uthlodha village said their payment of over Rs 90,000 had not yet been released while they had sold the produce at the local mandi in October.

Anoop Nain, district manager, HAFED, said the bajra payment of some of the farmers, who sold their produce below the rate of Rs 1,900 per quintal, was pending due to some technical reason. “The issue was also discussed at a meeting of higher officials recently. Hence, the payment of the remaining farmers will also be released soon,” he added.

Meanwhile, DC Shakti Singh couldn’t be contacted despite repeated attempts.