Haryana: 13,000 paddy farmers’ produce yet to reach mandis, verification ordered

At a meeting chaired at his office, the DC directed the concerned SDMs of the district to have these farmers verified through the patwaris and revenue department

Deputy commissioner Anand Kumar Sharma on Tuesday instructed the revenue department to verify the details of at least 13,000 farmers, whose paddy have not reached the grain markets even after a month.

The order comes days after the district administration stepped up its monitoring of paddy coming from outside states. (HT File)

At a meeting chaired at his office, the DC directed the concerned SDMs of the district to have these farmers verified through the patwaris and revenue department, so that the status of the paddy can be accurately ascertained.

“The verification process should be completed seriously, and necessary action should be taken after verifying the relevant information,” the DC said.

Sharma has also directed secretaries of the market committees to ensure that data of paddy purchased under private procurement is also updated on the e-procurement portal.

This comes days after the district administration stepped up its monitoring of paddy coming from outside states especially from places in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and ensured that the procurement process is carried out in accordance with regulations.

The Karnal police have registered two first information reports (FIRs) in connection with the suspected inflow of paddy from UP into Gharaunda and Indri grain markets, despite a ban.

The administration has requested the police to investigate farmer registration and land records, the audit trail of the e-procurement system, gate pass records, vehicle movement, documents related to the purchase and weighing of paddy, and available CCTV footage.

Additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Rahul Raiya said based on the investigation’s findings and evidence, further legal action will be taken as per the rules.

He said that verification of paddy arrival at other mandis was also underway and action will be taken accordingly.

According to the dashboard of the e-kharid portal, a total of 6.12 lakh metric tonne (LMT) of paddy has arrived at the purchase centres in Karnal since the official procurement began on September 29, which is 72.7% of the expected arrival.

Out of the total arrivals, 82.4% (5.04 LMT) has been auctioned, of which 93.8% (4.72 LMT) has been purchased/J-form issued and just 68.5% (3.24 LMT) lifted.