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Workers drying and packing paddy at the stockyard at Palakkad on Tuesday. Paddy farmers move court against the new system that they should apply for a loan from Kerala Bank to get their payment for the paddy procured by the Supplyco.
| Photo Credit: K.K. MUSTAFAH
Paddy farmers in the district continue to be on the warpath as they have moved the High Court against the government decision to give them their money for the paddy procured from them as loans. “It is unjust. We will fight it legally,” said Pandiyode Prabhakaran, general secretary of the National Farmers Protection Committee (NFPC). The court is likely to take up the case on Friday.
Hundreds of farmers are yet to get the payment for the paddy procured by the Supplyco from them after the first crop. After delays lasting for over two months, the government signed an understanding with the Kerala Bank to give the farmers the price of their paddy as loans.
“This is an insult to the farmers. They are forced to sign a loan agreement with the Kerala Bank for the money the government owes them. The bank can harass the farmers over this ‘loan’, though they are not taking any advance amount or loan,” said Mr. Prabhakaran.
Some other farmers complained that they were facing technical difficulties in getting their cash, apart from the ‘loan issue’. One farmer with 10 acres of paddy land said that the bank had refused to clear his cheque on technical grounds, though the money for the paddy procured from him had been credited in his account.
In order to avoid complications and delays in the procurement of the second crop paddy, the government has started discussions with a consortium of banks even before the harvesting is complete. The government used to hold talks with the banks and rice mills only after the harvesting.
Workers drying and packing paddy at the stockyard at Palakkad on Tuesday. Paddy farmers move court against the new system that they should apply for a loan from Kerala Bank to get their payment for the paddy procured by the Supplyco.
| Photo Credit:
K. K. MUSTAFAH
Paddy farms in the western part of the district, especially in Ottapalam and Shoranur areas, have completed the harvesting. But, according to paddy watchers, it is only 10% of the paddy in the district.
In the next three weeks, the entire second crop in the district is likely to be harvested. “But there are a lot of uncertainties. Hope the government will address them,” said Mr. Prabhakaran.
Farmers said they had got calls of harassment from the banks over the ‘loans’ given to them in lieu of the cost of their paddy. Procedurally the farmers will have to repay the ‘loans’ or else face legal action, including property attachment.
Although government officials said that it was only “procedural and nominal”, farmers said there were instances of harassment. However, the bank would never send a notice for the ‘loans’.
Mr. Prabhakaran also questioned the Supplyco argument that it would procure only 2,200 kg paddy an acre. “In Kuttanand, they are procuring up to 3,000 kg an acre. We need at least 2,500 kg an acre to be procured,” he said.
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