Published on 05:19 PM, September 11, 2019

Why govt should not be directed to purchase paddy, rice directly from farmers: HC

Some farmers stuffing paddy into sacks to sell it to middlemen in a haor area of Sunamganj’s Bishwambhapur upazila in August in 2019. These middlemen are allegedly using farmers’ cards to supply paddy to the local food office, depriving the marginalised growers in the haor area of fair prices for their produce. Photo: Mintu Deshwara
Star Online Report

The High Court today issued a rule asking the government to explain in four weeks why it should not be directed to purchase paddy and rice directly from the farmers in line with the Domestic Food Grain Procurement Policy 2017.

Secretaries to the ministries of food and agriculture and director general of Directorate General of Food have been made respondents to the rule.

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Khairul Alam came up with the rule after hearing a writ petition filed by Jatiya Krishak Samity’s (National Farmers’ Association) General Secretary Aminul Islam Golap.

He filed the petition on August 18 this year seeking a direction from the HC on the respondents to take steps to purchase the paddy and rice directly from the farmers in line with the Domestic Food Grain Procurement Policy 2017.

In the petition, he said the government is supposed to purchase paddy and rice from the farmers as per the Domestic Food Grain Procurement Policy 2017.

But, it has been procuring the paddy and rice reportedly from the middlemen including the go-down owners in violation of the policy and therefore, the farmers are not getting fair price of their paddy, the petitioner said in the petition.

The petitioner said in the petition that the farmer’s community is getting no scope and opportunity to sell their paddy/rice at the declared rate. As a result, farmers have been facing an irreparable loss and huge damage instead of having even the production cost.

Because the respondents are not purchasing the paddy /rice directly from the peasants, the third-party beneficiaries are taking different unlawful, mischievous opportunities to purchase the rice/paddy from the poor farmers at a lower rate. 

As such the petitioner served a notice demanding justice on 28.07.2019 to directly purchase paddy/rice from the farmers and to give compensation to them. But the respondents did not make any response to this, the petitioner said in the petition.

Advocate Firoz Alam appeared for the petitioner.

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