Farmers sit on four-hour dharna at Collectorate over ruined paddy and stalled procurement, seek disaster status for Bajpur-Gadarpur and ₹50,000 an acre

Angry over paddy ruined by rain and hail and purchases not starting at government centres, farmers led by the Bharatiya Kisan Union sat on a dharna at the Rudrapur Collectorate for about four hours on Monday. In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, they demanded that Bajpur and Gadarpur tehsils be declared hit by natural disaster, compensation of ₹50,000 an acre for ruined crops, more paddy purchase centres, and purchases through kachcha arhtiyas (commission agents). Farmers said buying was to begin on October 1, but even after 12 days the system is not running smoothly and they are being forced to sell paddy at ₹1,600 to ₹1,700 a quintal. Claiming that many farmers have lost up to 100 per cent of their crop, they asked for losses to be assessed in the fields rather than by aerial survey. Kichha SDM Gaurav Pandey assured them their problems would be resolved by October 21. According to preliminary Agriculture Department figures, rain and hail between October 6 and 10 affected 8,372 hectares of farmland in the state, with Bajpur-Gadarpur the worst hit. (Source: Hindustan, Dainik Bhaskar)