Let existing crop procurement continue, farmers, arhtiyas urge Ram Vilas Paswan

CHANDIGARH : Representatives of farm bodies and the associations of commission agents (arhtiyas) from Punjab and Haryana have urged Union minister for food and public distribution Ram Vilas Paswan not to disturb the existing crop procurement system. They put forward this view at a meeting with the minister and department officials on Thursday.

Some of the major changes that the Centre proposes to make are restricting assured procurement, restricting the disbursal of minimum support price (particularly on wheat and paddy), making direct payment to farmers through the Public Finance Management System (PFMS) and allowing entry of private players in the process. Of these, the PFMS has already been launched last kharif season and it bypasses the role of arhtiyas. Punjab and Haryana are also mandated to pay the MSP directly into the farmers’ accounts. “Punjab and Haryana are big surplus foodgrain producing states. Punjab produces 135 lakh tonne of surplus wheat and 180 lakh tonne of paddy for the national pool. If the government leaves farmers at the mercy of private players, prices will crash by 50%. The crops are worth more Rs 60,000 crore. If government procurement stops, its net worth will drop to Rs 30,000 crore,” said Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of a faction of Bharatiya Kisan Union, who was present at the meeting.

Rajewal claimed that Paswan, however, expressed his helplessness, claiming that the minister told stakeholders from Punjab and Haryana that it was the Union finance ministry that had proposed the changes and the at this stage, only intervention from the Prime Minister’s Office could stop the changes being made.

BKU general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal; Punjab Arhtiya Association president Ravinder Singh Cheema, and Haryana Arhtiya Association president Ashok Gupta were also part of the delegation.

“The procurement system in Punjab and Haryana is developed. For 60 years now, arhtiyas have been playing a vital role in driving the procurement system. In these two states, there are competitive rates and there is no corruption in procurement of foodgrain, unlike the rest of the states,” said Gupta, claiming that he told the minister to transfer the procurement system of these two states to the rest of the country, rather than the other way round.

› In Punjab, Haryana, procurement agencies lift 100% of the wheat and paddy that arrive in mandis. In other states, only 15-20% is lifted by agencies and major chunk goes through pvt system. BALBIR RAJEWAL, farm leader