A day after they blocked national highway-44 in Haryana’s Shahbad in support of their demands, the protesting farmers under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) ended the agitation on government’s assurance.
BKU (Chaduni) president Gurnam Singh told reporters on Saturday that farmers decided to end the protest and lift the blockade after an assurance was given by the government to consider purchasing 30 quintals of paddy per acre against the earlier decision of buying 22 quintals. He said that paddy crop procurement is to start on October 1. Since harvesting of paddy has started, whatever paddy the farmers bring to the market yards ahead of the official procurement date, would be managed by the district authorities.
Meanwhile, in an official statement, the Haryana government said the procurement of paddy would start on October 1 and will continue till November 15. The government has set a target to procure around 55 lakh metric tonnes of paddy.
“The government has decided that ₹100 per quintal will be charged instead of 4% market fee on paddy that is not purchased at Minimum Support Price. Out of this, ₹50 will go to Mandi Board and ₹50 will be deposited in Haryana Rural Development Fund as cess,” it said. It added that it has been decided that the average yield of 30 quintals per acre will be considered in the main paddy yielding districts of the State for procurement at MSP, and 28 quintals per acre in other paddy districts will be considered for procurement at MSP.
The statement said that help desks will be set up at every mandi to ensure that farmers do not face any problems.
