Haryana govt’s decision to increase HRDF charge on paddy anti-farmer: Cong
Published on: January 22, 2022.
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Chandigarh, Jan 20 (PTI) The BJP-JJP government’s decision to increase the Haryana Rural Development Fund (HRDF) charge on paddy is an “anti-farmer” move, the Congress said on Thursday.
The opposition party demanded its immediate rollback.
“We strongly condemn the Khattar-Dushyant Chautala government’s decision of three times increase in HRDF from 0.5 percent to 2 percent on all varieties of paddy, including 1509, Muchhal, Sarbati, 1121,” Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a statement here.
He said it is a “short-sighted decision” and will harm the cause of the farmers.
“Now, the farmers of Haryana will be compelled, either to sell off their crops in the neighbouring states’ agricultural mandis or they will have to sell paddy to the traders at a price cheaper by at least Rs 100-120 per quintal. Six months back, the BJP-JJP government had increased the market fees from 0.5 percent to 2 percent on all varieties of paddy,” Surjewala said.
He said 42.5 lakh metric tonnes of basmati and 1509 paddy and 56 lakh metric tonnes of ‘parmal’ rice was procured in Haryana last year.
He said while the farmers will be worst-affected due to the HRDF charge hike, the decision will also impact the ‘Arhtiyas’ (commission agents), rice millers, among others.
“The farmers will either have to sell their paddy in neighbouring states like Punjab-Delhi etc., where the HRDF/market fees is less, which would be a time-consuming proposition, a farmer will also have to pay the cost of transportation, which will increase his cost,” the Congress leader said.
If farmers go to the mandis of other states to sell their produce, they will naturally suffer financial loss, but at the same time the state government will also generate less revenue as it will not get the tax, he said.
Surjewala said on one hand the government insists that the mandis are not being abolished, “but the decisions being taken by the state government are clearly indicative of the government’s ill intentions to lock the grain markets and hand over the farm business to the big private players”. PTI SUN AQS AQS
