Farmers fear money for Phailin losses may go to middlemen

BARGAH: The pre-poll sop of Rs 100 as financial assistance per quintal of paddy to farmers announced by the state government in December last year following loss due to cyclone Phailin, may not reach them in several parts of the Bargarh district which is going to polls on April 10.
Middlemen possess bulk of farmer identity cards, through which the aid would be released.Farmers apprehend they would take away large share of the aid.
As per norms, farmers sell their paddy using their identity cards at the regulated markets at the minimum support price (MSP). But that is on pen and paper. "All identity cards of around five villages here are with a single middleman. The process of selling at regulated market is so complex that few farmers go to such places. The middleman sells it using our cards," said a resident of Bausenmora village. The situation is the same in Bijepur and Padampur block.
"The middleman is not returning our cards in wake of the government announcement of the aid. Whenever it is released, he will take us to the bank and extract the majority share. If we argue, they will stop buying our paddy," said Jaysingh, a farmer from Padampur.
Under the government's move, farmers will get the aid for up to 100 quintals, which comes to around Rs 10,000 per farmer.
"The government reluctantly announced the aid in December because of the approaching polls. But if the benefit does not reach them, it means the government has failed," said Ashok Pradhan, convenor, Western Odisha farmers' coordination committee.