C''garh: BJP holds protests over paddy procurement

The BJP on Saturday staged protests at all the district headquarters in Chhattisgarh,

accusing the Congress government of ditching farmers and committing irregularities in the procurement of paddy.

After staging protest in all the district headquarters, BJP leaders handed over petitions of their

demands, including extending the duration of the paddy procurement process which ended on February 20 and purchase of grain of

farmers, to collectors. BJP state unit president Vikram Usendi said the

Congress came to power by making promises to farmers and now after being elected, it has resorted to "barbarism" when they

are demanding fulfillment of those promises. Usendi condemned the alleged lathicharge on farmers by

the police when they were protesting over anomalies in the paddy procurement process in Kondagaon district on February 18.

Usendi said the BJP was in power for 15 years till 2018 during which it came up with a robust paddy procurement

policy due to which farmers never faced any problems. "During the 2003-2018 period, not a single agitation was

staged by farmers over paddy procurement. But within a year of coming to power, the paddy procurement system collapsed under

the Congress government. Now, farmers are facing all types of problems like computer software malfunction, lack of sacks,

lack of coordination between officials and society management, etc," he alleged.

However, state government officials have claimed that Chhattisgarh has set a record of the highest paddy procurement

at the support price this year (Kharif marketing year 2019-20) which is about 83 lakh tonnes.

"In comparison to the previous Kharif season, 2.50 lakh more farmers have sold paddy in the state this season.

About 80 LMT of paddy was purchased in the state at the support price during the previous season," they said.