JD(S) leader accuses government of cheating farmers in ragi procurement

The farmers of the region, who are in distress over not being able to secure a fair price for ragi, were now being cheated at the ragi procurement centres set up by the government, alleged former Minister and JD(S) leader S.R. Mahesh.

Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Friday, Mr. Mahesh alleged that “daylight robbery” of farmers was taking place at the ragi procurement centres set up by the government in Chunchunakatte, Saligrama, and K.R. Nagar to purchase ragi at Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Though each 50 kg bag is to weigh 580 grams more to take the weight of the bag into account, which translates to about 1.16 kgs for a quintal, the personnel are collecting an excess of 4 kgs of ragi for every quintal under the pretext of the bag’s weight, he alleged.

He accused the personnel of cheating the farmers of more than 2.5 kgs of ragi for every quintal of the commodity. “The farmer is losing about ₹200 for every quintal of ragi at the procurement centre,” he said.

In addition to the excess of collection of ragi, the farmers were also paying ₹26 per 50 kg bag, which translates to ₹52 per quintal, for loading the bags onto the transporting trucks even though the government had appointed a contractor to load and transport the ragi bags from the procurement centre to the storage warehouses by paying ₹32 per quintal, Mr. Mahesh alleged.

The farmers were not only losing ₹200 worth of ragi for every quintal, but also ₹32 per quintal towards transportation, he said.

During the last month, ever since the procurement of ragi began, around 60,000 quintals of ragi had been procured from three centres in K.R. Nagar taluk alone. In the remaining two months, another 1.5 lakh quintals of ragi will be procured, he estimated.  

He not only criticised the officials of the Department of Food and Civil Supplies for being “negligent”, but also sought to draw the attention of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the matter.

Though steps had been initiated to prevent such cheating after he brought the matter to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru, Mr. Mahesh sought to know who would compensate the farmers for the losses they had already suffered.

Contending that the issue is not limited to Mysuru district but is prevalent across the State, Mr. Mahesh threatened to stage protests during the Chief Minister’s next visit to Mysuru if measures are not taken to stop the exploitation of farmers.