Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), (Samajweekly) Farmers from western Uttar Pradesh are up in arms against the Haryana government’s order of banning paddy procurement from other states, including Uttar Pradesh.
The farmers said that they would continue with their efforts as they had been selling their crops in Haryana’s Karnal mandi for decades.
According to reports, the Haryana Police have placed a barricade at the Bidoli border and all the commuters are allowed to pass but only farmers with their tractor-trolleys have been stopped since the past 10 days.
Master Jahid, regional vice-president, BKU, said, “The Haryana Police placed barricades at the border and only farmers are being stopped. We have been selling our crops in Karnal mandi for decades and now they are stopping us. Not a single representative from the Uttar Pradesh government has tried to resolve the issue.”
He said the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments must set up temporary grain markets on the borders so that farmers could sell their harvest every season and the ban on farmer’s entry to mandis must be lifted immediately.
The Haryana Police officials have been requesting Uttar Pradesh farmers to clear blockades set up by them in the border areas. They claim they have written orders from the state government to not let paddy farmers enter Haryana.
“It is not that all the paddy crops are being denied entry. We are letting farmers with basmati and other rich varieties pass the border. Only those crops under the MSP are being stopped,” police personnel said.
