BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Thursday promised to end the contentious centralised token system for paddy procurement and streamline purchase by opening market yards at the panchayat level under the leadership of sarpanchs, if the party is voted to power in the panchayat election in the state.
Releasing a 22-point manifesto for the three-tier rural polls, the BJP tried to win over the farmers.
State BJP president Samir Mohanty said his party will fight for a transparent system of paddy procurement by ending the nexus of millers and middlemen. “The system to send tokens to farmers from Bhubaneswar is delaying the procurement process. This will stop,” he added.
Various farmers’ organisations have been protesting against the current system, under which the peasants can sell paddy only when they receive the centralised tokens generated at the state level and on pre-decided date and time allotted to them.
The BJP manifesto said the party will work to ensure that the farmers are able to sell all their harvest, doing away with an upper limit fixed for each of them depending on their land holding size, at the minimum support price.
The BJP also promised to ensure the Centre’s cash incentives under the PM Kisan scheme reaches the farmers. The party said though the Union government has been giving Rs 6,000 per year in three instalments, lion’s share of the money is going to middlemen owing allegiance to the ruling party in Odisha and not to the actual farmers.
