Seed of frustration grows as wheat payments stay stuck
A total of around 2,500 farmers from four districts—Sirmaur, Solan, Una and Kangra—are still awaiting payment for the wheat seed sold to the state’s Agriculture Department during the months of April, May and June. Despite supplying nearly 87,000 quintals of certified wheat seed to the department, many of these farmers have not been paid even after a lapse of three months.
The wheat was procured by the Agriculture Department at Rs 3,200 to Rs 3,400 per quintal, depending on quality and variety. The total value of the procured wheat seed stands at Rs 29 crore, out of which Rs 19 crore is still pending, affecting nearly 1,800 farmers across the four districts.
In Sirmaur district alone, the department procured 13,500 quintals of wheat seed from 423 farmers, amounting to Rs 4.92 crore. Out of this, Rs 1.80 crore has been disbursed to 108 farmers, while Rs 3.12 crore remains unpaid to the remaining 315 farmers.
With no clear communication or timeline for the pending payments, distressed farmers have been frequently visiting the Agriculture Department offices to seek clarity, but in vain. The delay has triggered concern among farming communities who were expecting timely returns to prepare for the next cropping cycle.
Dr Ravindra Singh, Director of Agriculture, confirmed the delay and said a request for additional funds has been sent to the state government. “As soon as the required funds are released, the payments will be cleared,” he assured.
Nearly three dozen affected farmers gathered in Paonta Sahib under the leadership of local MLA Sukh Ram Chaudhary on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu via the Subdivisional Magistrate. The memorandum urges the state government to immediately release the pending payments.
Those who signed the memorandum include Rangilal, Surender Kumar, Rahul Chaudhary, Rajaram, Roshan Lal, Hussain Mohammad, Bhoj Singh, Ravinder Kumar, Sunil Parmar, Totaram Sharma, Deepchand Pundir, Ajay Mehta, Balbir Singh, Devendra Chaudhary, Nirmal Kaur and Devaraj Chauhan, among others.
Farmers warn that if their dues are not cleared soon, they may be forced to launch a wider agitation demanding justice for what they call a “betrayal” by the government after encouraging them to produce certified wheat seed.
Himachal Tribune