Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, October 1

In protest against the directions of the Food and Civil Supplies Department to collect and upload the bank account and Aadhaar numbers of farmers on Public Financial Management System portal, around 23,900 arhtiyas of the state boycotted paddy purchase, which officially began today.

They alleged that farmers were opposed to the demand for bank account and Aadhaar details. They said various unions had announced to launch an agitation if anyone tried to forcibly get the details from farmers.

“We will continue to boycott the paddy purchase till the department withdraws its September 16 order that states it will not release our commission if we fail to upload the bank details of farmers on PFMS portal. Since the bank account number is personal information, how can we compel the farmers? Moreover, the matter is already in the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” said Ravinder Singh Cheema, president of the arhtiya association.

Members of association gave memorandums to deputy commissioners across different districts today.

“Our commission cannot be related to uploading of the bank account details of farmers on PFMS. The department wants to arm-twist us. The authorities must understand that the farmers have already announced not to share their personal details,” said Harnam Singh, senior vice president of the association.

Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, BKU Ugrahan’s general secretary, said: “The farmers and arhtiyas are already at loggerheads due to various issues. If the government wants to help the farmers, it must form teams to collect the details directly from them rather than asking arhtiyas to do so.”

Anindita Mitra, Director, Food and Civil Supplies Department, said there were two groups of arhtiyas in Punjab. While the government had the support of one group, the other has boycotted the procurement, she said.

“The Centre had stopped the release of Rs 768 crore as we failed to implement the PFMS. We got the amount by promising to implement it by October 15. There will not be any problem in the purchase as one group is supporting us,” she claimed.