E-Paper
Relief to paddy farmers as Haryana arhtiyas end indefinite strike
Haryana government takes back decision of basmati trading on e-NAM portal; arhtiyas to start procurement operations from Tuesday
: The arhtiyas in Haryana on Monday ended their indefinite strike after the state government withdrew its decision of making trading of basmati varieties of paddy mandatory on e-NAM portal, in a big relief to paddy growers whose produce has been lying unattended in grain markets amid heavy rains and waterlogging.
The arhtiyas said that they will start the procurement operations from Tuesday.
“It has been decided by the government that the farmers who are coming to the mandis for sale of crops (non-MSP) and they have registered on meri fasal mera bayora portal and obtained their gate passes through e-Kharid shall not be required to enter their details on e-NAM (portal),” read the order issued by the office of the chief administrator of Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board.
Besides, the government has also given an assurance to reduce the market fee, following which the association has decided to end the strike.
The Haryana State Anaj Mandi Arhtiya Association (HSAMAA) went on an indefinite strike on September 19 against the government’s decision of basmati trading on e-NAM portal, halting procurement operations in mandis across the state.
Ashok Gupta, president of HSAMAA said that the government has accepted our one demand related to e-NAM trading, besides it has already agreed to increase the per acre yield ceiling to 28 and 30 quintal.
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda visited the protesting arhtiyas in Karnal grain market and offered juice to those on hunger strike. Some of the protesting arthtiyas had started fast unto death three days ago.
Hooda said that the farmers were reeling under heavy rains and the strike had also cost them heavily. The arhtiyas ending their strike has come as a big relief to the farmers.
What is e-NAM?
The National Agriculture Market or e-NAM is an online trading platform for agricultural commodities introduced by the Centre. The objective of e-NAM is to facilitate farmers, traders and buyers with online trading across India as it networks the existing APMC mandis and creates a unified national market for agricultural commodities. On this platform, the buyers from across the country can buy from the mandis and payment can be made directly to farmers before lifting the produce.
Why arhtiyas are opposing e-NAM?
The trading of Basmati varieties of rice is done by private buyers without any involvement of the government. If the trading is done on e-NAM portal, the arhtiyas say that they will have to provide all the details related to farmers, buyers, gate pass, auction price, quality of foodgrain and J-Form.
As the online trading of basmati varieties will give access to the government to procurement details, it will give arhtiyas little or no scope to dodge paying ₹ 100 market fee of which ₹ 50 goes to the mandi Board and ₹ 50 is deposited in Haryana Rural Development Fund as cess. Now, offline trading will help them purchase directly from farmers even from other states without paying levies on the produce they will procure.
