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Can’t stop farmers’ land records integration with procurement: Punjab government to arhtiyas
Of 8.75 lakh farmers registered on the procurement portal, land records of over 4 lakh have been brought under integration process in Punjab, said officials
The Punjab government on Wednesday told the state arhtiya association that it was “not possible at this juncture” to stop integration of land records with procurement as 50% of the process has been completed and further work is underway.
The matter was raised during a meeting of chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh with the association office-bearers who claimed to have raised the farmers’ apprehensions about the land records integration process.
“We conveyed to everyone present in the meeting that it was not possible as the Centre has mandated all procurement states, including Punjab, to integrate land records (farads) with the procurement portal and the entire process is at an advance stage,” said secretary (food and civil supplies) Rahul Tiwari.
A state food and civil supplies department official said of 8.75 farmers registered on the procurement portal, land records of over 4 lakh have been integrated and further verifications are going on.
In a meeting between the Samyukt Kisan Morcha leaders and political parties on September 10, the farmer unions expressed apprehension that the demand for land records (fards) for details of land ownership before procurement as ordered by the Centre is unjust as a large number of cultivators have taken land on lease and in many cases division is still to be done.
On September 12, Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu sent a communiqué to the CM, asking him to “fight against the injustice” saying “it was an attack on resilient minimum procurement price (MSP) regime and to push farmers away from the APMC mandis towards private markets, where no such records are maintained.
“The CM has already taken the matter with the Centre seeking relaxation. But as of now, the Centre’s directions are clear that there will be no procurement if integration is not implemented. Even if we carry on with the upcoming paddy procurement without integration of land records, the Food Corporation India (FCI) will not accept rice from the state later,” said Tiwari.
