As the paddy procurement started officially on Tuesday, arhtiyas across the state boycotted the process objecting to the direct payment system.
The commission agents alleged that they were being harassed in the name of uploading bank accounts and Aadhaar card numbers of farmers on Public Financial Management System (PFMS) portal.
But farmer unions are adamant for direct payment in farmers’ bank accounts. The Arhtiya Association Punjab wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh saying that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has asked them to provide details of sale of the crop and link bank accounts and Aadhaar numbers of farmers with the portal, which they said will affect their business.
“Our association decided to boycott the procurement process across the state. The data of the PMFS is being used for public distribution scheme, but the FCI has implemented it on the crop sale too. A section of farmers have also opposed the move and want payment through cheques,” said Ravinder Singh Cheema, state president of the union.
“The government has also issued instructs to withhold charges payable to arhtiyas in case they fail to link farmers’ bank accounts with the portal. We will continue to boycott paddy procurement till our demands are not met,” said Cheema. Farmers had to bear the brunt of the boycott. “I have been waiting to sell my crop for the past five days. No one is ready to purchase the crop. A commission agent told me he will not go against the decision of the union. I am being harassed for no fault of mine,” said Parjinder Singh, a farmer of Badrukhan village who brought his crop to the Sangrur grain market.
{{/usCountry}}“The government has also issued instructs to withhold charges payable to arhtiyas in case they fail to link farmers’ bank accounts with the portal. We will continue to boycott paddy procurement till our demands are not met,” said Cheema. Farmers had to bear the brunt of the boycott. “I have been waiting to sell my crop for the past five days. No one is ready to purchase the crop. A commission agent told me he will not go against the decision of the union. I am being harassed for no fault of mine,” said Parjinder Singh, a farmer of Badrukhan village who brought his crop to the Sangrur grain market.
{{/usCountry}}“The commission agents want to exploit farmers at the behest of the government. They are for traditional methods of payment. Farmers are ready to give their bank accounts and Aadhaar numbers. It is falsely being projected that the move will infringe on farmers’ privacy,” said Jagmohan Singh, state general secretary of BKU (Ekta Dakaunda).
District food and supplies controller Sweety Devgan said the boycott will not affect the procurement process and farmers will get payment as per government guidelines.