Sirsa MP, All India Congress Committee General Secretary, Congress Working Committee member, former Union Cabinet Minister and Uttarakhand Congress in-charge Kumari Selja has expressed serious concern over the difficulties faced by farmers in Haryana due to technical glitches in the paddy procurement portal. She has urged the BJP-led state government to resolve the problems immediately and ensure that farmers do not suffer because of failures in the digital procurement system.
Selja said the technical barriers in the procurement process had exposed administrative shortcomings at a time when farmers were bringing their hard-earned produce to the market. According to Agriculture Department figures cited by her, approximately 90.71 lakh quintals of paddy were registered in the state. However, technical difficulties reportedly prevented data relating to nearly 33.32 lakh quintals from being uploaded to the portal.
She described the situation as serious and questioned why farmers should bear the consequences when their crop had already been verified. Selja said the inability to upload verified crop details was creating complications in procurement and raising concerns about the sale of produce and timely payment.
Verified Crop Data Must Be Recorded
The Congress leader said that once the farmers’ crop had been verified, the responsibility for completing the digital record should rest with the government and concerned departments. Farmers should not be made to face repeated difficulties because the portal was unable to process their information.
She pointed out that many farmers had to sell their paddy on the basis of gate passes. This, she said, could affect the procurement and payment process and create uncertainty for farmers who had already completed the necessary formalities.
Selja questioned why farmers were forced to rely on gate passes despite verification of their produce. She said the government must ensure that the procurement process remained transparent and that no farmer was left uncertain about payment.
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Congress Raises Farmers’ Rights
Selja said the Congress had consistently stood for farmers’ rights, fair prices for agricultural produce and payments within the stipulated time. She urged the BJP government to adopt a sensitive approach towards farmers and treat the portal-related problems as an urgent issue requiring immediate attention.
She said digital systems introduced to facilitate procurement should make the process easier rather than create additional hurdles. Technical failures should not become a reason for delaying the purchase of agricultural produce or creating difficulties in payment.
The Congress leader stressed that farmers had worked throughout the agricultural season and deserved a procurement system that was reliable, transparent and responsive to their needs.
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Special Technical Team and Complete Records Needed
Selja demanded that the state government constitute a special technical team to identify and rectify the portal’s shortcomings without delay. She said the government should ensure that the complete records of all verified paddy were uploaded and properly entered into the system.
She also called for the government to ensure that paddy sold through gate passes received payment according to the applicable rules. Farmers who had completed verification and sold their produce should not be left uncertain about payment because of technical problems.
She said the government must coordinate with the concerned departments and procurement agencies to resolve the issue and prevent further inconvenience to farmers.
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Farmers Must Not Pay for Technical Failures
Selja said every grain produced through farmers’ hard work was valuable. Making farmers bear the cost of technical shortcomings in the procurement system was unacceptable under any circumstances.
She urged the state government to act promptly, restore the proper functioning of the portal, complete pending data entries and ensure that procurement and payment proceeded without unnecessary delays.
The Congress, she said, would continue to raise its voice firmly in support of farmers and their interests. Selja reiterated that the government must ensure that technical problems did not undermine farmers’ rights or create obstacles in the sale of their produce.
She called for immediate corrective measures so that farmers could complete the procurement process with confidence and receive payments due to them under the applicable rules.
NEWS NOTE
The figures and demands in this report are based on the press statement provided by Kumari Selja. The government has been urged to address portal issues, upload verified paddy records and ensure payment for produce sold through gate passes.
