In Bihar, farmers form grain bank to help feed the needy

The farmers, who are the stakeholders of the grain bank, have formed a set of guidelines to operate the bank while considering the rules to be followed during the lockdown.

A group of farmers of Dumraon in Buxar district, about 130km west of Patna, has formed a novel ‘grain bank’ to feed marginalised people who are facing immense hardship due to the nationwide lockdown. The farmers, who are the stakeholders of the grain bank, have formed a set of guidelines to operate the bank while considering the rules to be followed during the lockdown.

Farmers seen at work during wheat harvesting season, in Patna, Bihar, India, on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. (Photo: Santosh Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

“About six days ago, when I received a call from some social workers that a group of ‘nuts’ (nomads) were starving due to the lockdown near Dumraon railway station, I got food prepared for them. However, I realised that this was not the long-lasting solution to feed the hungry, as the lockdown would continue,” Rana Ranjeet Singh, a well-off farmer of Navanagar under Dumraon block in Buxar district, said.

Singh said he mobilised the farmers of Dumraon and Navanagar blocks to chip in and donate grains for the grain bank. “I called a meeting of farmers while maintaining social distancing, and now several people are contributing to the bank,” he said, adding that most donations to the bank, ranging from 2 kg to 100 kg, are of wheat and rice.

Since April is the month of harvest, farmers normally have sufficient stock of foodgrains and the Rabi crop in Dumraon region is a good year, according to farmers.

Singh said the farmers willing to donate to the grain bank stock up the grains in their houses itself. “This method has been adopted as stocking up the grain at one place will create issues of transportation and also escalate the cost of the service. Besides during this emergency period, where will we get a place to store the grain,” he said, adding that till now about 70 farmers have joined the bank.

“Once a farmer is ready to donate the grain, he informs Singh, who contacts the needy, who then go to the donor farmer to collect the grain. A needy family is not given more than 15kg grain for a week. Since the needy are known in the locality and are not outsiders, there is less chance of them collecting foodgrain more than once a week. Many cannot avail benefits of government schemes, as they don’t even own a ration card. The bank is a boon for them,” Rameshwar Ojha, another farmer of Dumraon, said.

Singh said that the district administration officials of Dumroan were contacted to collect the foodgrains from the farmers and get them distributed under their supervision. “But they refused, citing reasons such as maintenance of law and order and other official work, so we decided to go ahead with the formation of the grain bank,” he said.

Block development officer (BDO), Dumraon, Prabhat Ranjan, while appreciating the efforts of the farmers by forming the grain bank said it was true the district administration officials were tied up with identifying the Covid-19 patients and other works. “It will be difficult for us to distribute the foodgrains, but we are not stopping anyone from helping the needy,” he said.

Singh claimed the idea of creating a grain bank was catching the fancy of farmers of neighbouring Bhojpur, Rohtas and Kaimur districts.