Fatehpur procurement centre closed, paddy growers left in lurch

Our Correspondent

Nurpur, November 12

The sudden closure of the paddy procurement centre at Riyali in the mand area of Fatehpur subdivision in Kangra district two days ago has left hundreds of farmers worried. Now, they are compelled to sell their paddy at throwaway prices to private players in neighbouring Punjab. Resentment is brewing among the farmers of the mand area, which is known as the rice growing region of Kangra district.

According to official information, the Riyali procurement centre was one of the three centres set up by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in lower Kangra areas bordering Punjab. Paddy procurement was started on October 15, giving respite to the farmers as the Punjab Government had banned the purchase of paddy from Himachal at the FCI centres at Mukerian in Hoshiarpur district.

The FCI had started procuring paddy at Tiyora in Indora subdivision and the grain mandi at Fatehpur. As per the state government notification, paddy procurement was to continue from October 15 to November 30. The FCI allegedly closed the Riyali centre without intimating the local farmers but at the same time brisk buying of paddy was going on at its centres at Tiyora and Fatehpur.

According to Raj Kumar Bhardwaj, Secretary, Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), Kangra, the necessary infrastructure, as directed by the FCI, such as a covered and pucca platform, three sheds and crates were provided at the Riyali centre. He admitted that the sudden closure of the centre had disappointed hundreds of paddy growers in the mand area. He added that only 69 farmers sold their paddy to the FCI while 375 farmers had booked slots online for selling their crops.

Inquiries revealed that the FCI had procured only 3,500 quintals of paddy at this centre while over 50,000 quintals of paddy was still unsold. Vijay Kumar, secretary of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, has threatened to launch a stir if the state government fails to restart the centre within three days.

Meanwhile, local farmers Sandeep Thakur, Sucha Singh, Ganesh and Rakesh Kumar said that the FCI had been rejecting the paddy on flimsy grounds while procuring the same at its other centres at the grain market, Fatehpur and Tiyora. They alleged that paddy lifting at the Riyali centre was very slow.