The Human Rights Forum (HRF) has demanded that the State government ensure that all cultivating farmers receive Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the paddy damaged during Cyclone Michaung, irrespective of the coloration and the moisture content.
In a release on December 13 (Wednesday), the HRF said farmers have suffered enormous crop loss, both standing and harvested, due to the cyclone last week.
“There are two issues here. One is that though the government claims it is procuring the paddy, the facts on ground are different. While the rice millers procure damaged paddy from farmers and the government then transfers the MSP amount to farmers’ accounts, the millers demand that farmers part with some of their MSP amount, citing the discoloration and moisture content of the crop. If the government compensates the millers, they will not pester the farmers later,” said HRF State secretary Gutta Rohit.
The second issue is that while the government claims that it remits the MSP amount directly into the farmers’ accounts through the e-crop portal, in most cases the tenant farmers, who cultivate the crop and who ought to be getting the MSP, do not find their names on the e-crop portal, he said.
“We find only landowners’ names on the portal. The tenant farmers are left at the mercy of the landowners to claim the amount. The government has to devise an alternative mechanism to identify tenant farmers rather than merely depending on the word of the landowners,” he said.
Enumeration of crop loss should be done immediately to get accurate information, said the HRF in the release, adding that lack of proper maintenance of farm drains and outlets is further exacerbating their loss when such disasters strike.
