The Human Rights Forum (HRF) demands that the government ensures that all cultivating farmers receive Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the paddy damaged during Cyclone Michaung, irrespective of the coloration and the moisture content.
Farmers have suffered enormous crop loss, both standing and harvested, due to the cyclone during last week. While the State government claims that it is procuring the discoloured and high moisture content paddy at the MSP, the facts on the ground do not bear this out.
Though the rice millers are procuring the damaged paddy from the farmers, they are demanding money back from farmers, citing the discoloration and moisture content of the crop. If the government compensates the rice millers, they will not pester the farmers.
Moreover, the government claims to remit the MSP amount directly into the farmers’ accounts through the e-crop portal. Ideally, this ought not to be a problem if the owners themselves cultivate the land. But, in most cases the cultivators are tenant farmers whose names are not registered on the e-crop portal. They are left at the mercy of the landowners to claim the amount. Having to depend on the permission of the landowner to register on the portal is the main reason for this lacuna. The government has to devise an alternative mechanism to identify tenant farmers rather than merely depending on the word of the landowners.
Similarly, farmers worry that if enumeration of crop loss is done after a week or ten days of the cyclone, experts may not get a true picture of the situation, as by then, water in the fields would have receded. Farmers have told us that the enumeration process of crop loss is rife with shortcomings, and that in the past, too, they were not fully paid the compensation. They further told us that the lack of proper maintenance of farm drains and outlets is further exacerbating their loss when such disasters strike.
Our Demands:
- The government should take the responsibility of identifying tenant farmers and registering them on the -crop portal.
- The government should take measures to ensure that the MSP for the damaged paddy, irrespective of the coloration and moisture content, reaches the cultivating farmers.
Y Rajesh
HRF AP State general secretary
G Rohith
HRF AP State secretary
Pavan
HRF East Godavari District member
13.12.2023
Vijayawada