By Express News Service
Published: 13th September 2016 06:26 AM
JEYPORE: Farmers of different pani panchayats under Upper Kolab irrigation project of Jeypore have demanded relaxation of Aadhaar card norm in paddy procurement by State Civil Supply Department. Apparently, farmers are being denied registration in cooperative agencies for selling paddy.
Around 5,000 farmers are yet to register their names for paddy procurement in the Kharif season in Jeypore due to lack of Aadhaar cards.
Sources said farmers’ registration for the ensuing kharif procurement has slowed down in the entire Koraput district as the cooperative societies are demanding Aadhaar card for the registration process. Most of the farmers in the district are yet to receive their biometric cards.
Around 18,000 farmers have cultivated paddy in over 45,000 hectares (ha) of land in Jeypore, Kotpad, Borrigumma, Kundra and Boipariguda blocks in the kharif season. In the last kharif season, about 15,140 farmers had registered their names for paddy procurement.
As per the direction of the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department, the cooperative societies started farmers’ registration for ensuing kharif season a month back. The first phase of registration was completed on Saturday.
About 7,000 farmers have registered their names for the kharif procurement while others failed to register due to non-availability of Aadhaar cards.
The farmers alleged that though they had supplied all biometric details to the agency concerned for Aadhaar registration at the village, they are yet to receive their cards. They demanded that the district administration should first ensure Aadhaar cards to them and extend the farmers’ registration process. Expressing concern over the issue, officials of Koraput Central Cooperative Bank said the administration is helpless over the issue as the Government has decided to enter names of farmers who have Aadhaar cards with them.