Opp alleges non-payment of paddy arrears to farmers

By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 30 Mar: During the Zero Hour in the House, today, some major issues were discussed under Rule 58 of the Assembly. Senior Congress member Yashpal Arya and member Adesh Chauhan claimed that harvesting time of wheat (Rabi crop) was near but the government had not declared any Minimum Support Price for the season and the farmers were yet to be provided packing material like gunny bags for transport to procurement centres. Chauhan also claimed that that payment for procurement of paddy had not been fully made as yet to the farmers although six months had already passed. He demanded that the arrears related to paddy procurement be paid at the earliest. He claimed that an amount of over Rs 2 crores was still pending to the farmers in his constituency alone.
To this, Food & Civil Supplies Minister Rekha Arya responded that MSP of wheat had already been declared at Rs 2015 per quintal and all the arrears had been paid. A total pending amount of around Rs 1 crore had also been released by the government and would be paid soon. She said that there could be some cases where banking details of the farmers are not available with the department and, therefore, some farmers may not have been paid. To this, Chauhan responded that non-payment was not due to lack of availability of bank details, but because the paddy purchased by the department had not been registered as purchased by the department due to lack of storage space.
MLA Gopal Singh Rana wanted to know how the government would save the farmers from middlemen.
Congress member Pritam Singh alleged that government is not bothered about rising prices of petrol and diesel even though it was leading to inflation as prices of all commodities and products was affected. He claimed that despite high petrol prices in international markets, earlier Congress Governments had not increased petrol prices. On the other hand, the Modi Government was selling petrol at higher prices even when the international prices had fallen significantly.
MLA Harish Dhami said that, till date, the magisterial inquiry on those who lost their lives in disasters from 2017 to 21 had not been completed. Till date, the victims’ families had not got any help. Minister Premchand replied that a policy has been brought for this in December 2021. He added that the amount of compensation had been increased.
Dharchula Congress MLA Harish Dhami said that from 2017 to 2021, compensation was inadequate. Four families lived in a house but only one got compensation. The calamity of 2017 was being further assessed according to the 2011 census. As many as 250 families were affected by the disaster in Darma Valley. The government ought to immediately ensure rehabilitation of affected families. Instead of Rs 1 lakh, two instalments of Rs 5 lakh, each, should be paid to the disaster affected.
Almora Congress MLA Manoj Tiwari raised the demand for restoration of the earlier pension scheme. He said that, in 2004, a new scheme was introduced by abolishing the old pension. Finance Minister Premchand responded that, from October 1, 2005, the state implemented the new pension scheme. It was true that the workers’ unions have demanded restoration of the old system. A proposal had been sent to the centre in this regard.