Sambalpur: The market has not opened, but the grain has already started going to the mill, 306 quintal rice paddy seized

Sambalpur: What was feared has been proved true. The market has not opened, but the grain has already started going to the mill. On Monday, 306.76 quintals of paddy was seized in 4 lanes by the squad formed by the district supply department near Sambalpur Metropolitan Corporation on Monday. Brokers have become active in the district due to late paddy collection.

According to the information of the supply department, on Monday at 10:30 am, the local farmers complained that they saw 4 grain laden trucks running from Sansinghari and Raghunathpally. The raid was conducted by a squad formed by the supply department on the complaint of the farmers. 306.76 quintals of grain were seized from one truck, two mini trucks and one tractor. The impounded paddy was bought from farmers at a price far below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and taken to the mills. There are three mills around the place where the wagons were seized. 2 lanes are said to have been seized in front of the mill. Even one wheel seized from a mill premises is being denied by the supply department as the locals say. The involvement of any mill owner has been denied. The department said that some farmers claimed that the grain in the lane was theirs. Here the question arises that if this grain was not going to the mill, then where was it going?

A few days ago, in the district-wide grain collection meeting held in the conference room of the District Collector’s office, the farmer’s organization said that the market was opened on the 9th in the district. Last year, farmers had to face problems due to delay in opening of mandi. Therefore, this time it was demanded to open the market between November 16/17. However, the district administration did not agree to it. After much debate, the administration announced the opening of the Dhan Mandi on November 25. Farmers have expressed fear that they will face problems of short sale if the market is not opened soon. Farmers have openly complained that such steps are being taken to appease unscrupulous mill owners. However, nothing was heard from the administration.

On the contrary, less than two days ago, there was an allegation of breaking into a mill in Maneshwar area. However, the matter was deliberately suppressed. There has been intense dissatisfaction among the farmers. The farmers’ organization has demanded that all the mills be raided.