Lakhimpur: Farmers Protest Against MSP On Paddy

Amid the ongoing farmers' protests in Delhi against the new agricultural reforms, hundreds of farmers in North Lakhimpur's Narayanpur on Monday held protests against the government's demand to buy paddy at the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the Assam government.

A memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi states that the farmers are "not happy with the discrimination by the state government by not considering Narayanpur for paddy procurement".

Expressing anguish, the farmers mention in the memorandum that the primary cultivation of Narayanpur is paddy, however, as per the notification No. FSB.142/2012/Pt/123, the farmers have "no choice but to sell our produce in the local market for the price as low as Rs. 900 – 1000 per quintal".

The farmers have urged the prime minister and state governor to look into matter on an urgent basis.

Furthermore, the farmers' community has also demanded for Food Corporation of India to be given the role of procurement centre.

Besides, the key demands include:

• Availability of paddy procurement centre in Narayanpur.
• Paddy should be sold at a price decided by the Government.
• Necessary steps to be taken so that the Government Agriculture Agency visits the paddy fields and certifies farmers to sell their produce in the market. It should not be other way around.
• Necessary steps to be taken so that farmer's data can be collected and maintained.
• Central Government should curb rice distribution to our state which is procured from the states like Punjab & Haryana from the month of October to February. And also, necessary steps to be taken so that paddy can be procured locally and locally produced rice can be distributed through PDS.
• Awareness camp needs to be organised so that the required knowledge can be instilled into people's/farmer's mind.
• To form a high-power committee in order to solve the agricultural problem of the Lakhimpur & Dhemaji districts. Apart from the Govt. authority, the committee should be having people such as experts, farmers, traders, etc.