Haryana: Record paddy figures mask farmer losses, expose scam
By Deepender Deswal
Farmers endured a punishing double whammy — devastating floods on the ground and flaws in the procurement system — leaving many squeezed between crop loss and distress sales.
Excessive rain and breaches in canals inundated fields, inflicting heavy damage on standing crops. While the government announced relief of Rs 116 crore, farmers growing crops other than paddy faced a harsher reality. Procurement agencies largely stayed away from buying cotton, bajra and moong at the MSP, forcing farmers to sell their produce at throwaway prices.
Ironically, the kharif season ended with records showing a record procurement of 62.13 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, the highest ever in the state. What followed, however, rattled the system. Ghost procurement surfaced in multiple districts, exposing an organised scam.
The first major breakthrough came in Karnal, where six FIRs were registered and six persons were arrested, pointing to a deep-rooted nexus. Investigations revealed that paddy which never reached grain markets was shown as procured.
Adding to the mystery was Fatehabad, which topped the state in paddy procurement for the first time, recording nearly a 40% rise over last year. This raised eyebrows as Fatehabad is traditionally a cotton-growing district, not a major paddy belt.
Insiders pointed out that 7,541 acres in Fatehabad had suffered crop damage due to rains, for which 3,372 farmers received Rs 8.23 crore as compensation. In contrast, paddy-heavy districts like Kaithal and Karnal reported crop loss in just 415 and 628 acres, respectively.
Farmer activist Sandeep Siwach of Pagri Sambhal Jatta alleged large-scale irregularities. “In Fatehabad’s Gorakhpur village, we detected around 20,000 bags of paddy stocked with a rice trader even before procurement began. He was let off with a fine of just Rs 2.5 lakh,” he said.
Questioning the official figures, Siwach said, “By no arithmetic could Fatehabad top paddy procurement. This is not a paddy district like Karnal, Kaithal or Kurukshetra. Morevoer, the figures showed crop loss due to rains.”
Retired agriculture scientist Dr Ram Kanwar of CCS Haryana Agricultural University said the scam was not new. “This ghost procurement has been going on for nearly two decades. A dubious network of arhtiyas, procurement officials and millers has caused massive losses to the state exchequer year after year,” he said.
He noted that the scam surfaced only because unusually high paddy arrivals were recorded despite delayed harvesting, floods, heavy rainfall and disease-hit crops.
The modus operandi was simple: fake gate passes, forged entries, inflated stocks and paddy shown only on paper. This enabled millers to secure government allotments and later deliver low-quality or misappropriated rice, including grain diverted from the public distribution system, as custom-milled rice.
As farmers reel under losses, the year ends with uncomfortable questions on how a flood-hit season produced a record harvest — at least on paper.
This article has been republished from The Tribune.