e-kharid system faces resistance

Parveen Arora

Aimed at empowering farmers and extending ease of doing business to traders, the e-kharid system was launched for Haryana by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in September 2016. Under this system, a joint initiative of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB) and the Department of Food and Civil Supplies, direct payment was to be made into the accounts of the farmers for their produce. Over three years after the launch of the system, farmers are awaiting direct payment due to opposition from the arhtiyas.

The state government announced to implement e-trading and transferring the payment directly into the farmers’ accounts prior to every crop season, but the protests by arhtiyas have repeatedly forced the powers that be to postpone the direct payment system.

Arhtiyas say the decision to bypass them can lead to losses as they have already lent money to farmers.

“The relations between arhtiyas and farmers in Haryana have been cordial for several decades. The government’s decision is an attempt to create a rift between the two communities. Arhtiyas lend money to farmers. If payments are transferred into the accounts of the farmers, there will be no guarantee that the arhtiyas will get their money back,” says Ashok Gupta, state president of the Haryana State Anaj Mandi Arhtiyas’ Association.

Gupta claims that the arhtiyas’ contribution to the Green Revolution was no less than that of farmers and the government. If the arhtiyas had not lent money to the farmers at low interest rates, it would not have happened, he says.

He says Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan should implement this system first in Bihar. “There is no need of such a step in Haryana. Our system is very advanced. We have rarely heard of any case in Haryana wherein the farmer committed suicide due to arhtiyas. No case has been reported so far about any clash between arhtiyas and farmers,” he says.

“We will continue to oppose this system as it is not viable in Haryana,” says the state president.

Rajnish Chaudhary, president, Karnal Arhtiyas’ Association, says the government has started e-NAM, e-kharid and now Meri Fasal, Mera Byora, but there is no need for such a mechanism in Haryana. He calls arhtiyas the ‘ATMs’ of farmers and says the latter can get money from them anytime and direct payment would affect their relationship.

A farmers’ body blames the government for the dependence of farmers on arhtiyas.

“The financial condition of the farmers is not good. They are forced to depend on the arhtiyas to get money on interest. The government is responsible for the economic woes of the farmers. Successive governments neglected the farmers and forced them to rely on the arhtiyas. The MSP of the crops should be higher than the cost of the production,” says Rattan Mann, state president, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Mann).

He says the government should initiate steps to make the farmers self-reliant in every manner. “The payment should be transferred into the accounts of the farmers, but before that the government should ensure that the farmers are not dependent any more on the arhtiyas for loans,” he adds.

Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer of Nilokheri, says farmers should be paid as per the old system through arhtiyas.

Meanwhile, the state government and the HSAMB are making efforts to implement the system which aims to minimise the interaction between the farmers, arhtiyas and market committees. The government is planning to implement this scheme from the upcoming rabi season, for which meetings have already been held between the arhtiyas and officials of the department concerned. Sources in the HSAMB say one meeting was chaired by the CM last month and the arhtiyas had apprised him of the problems arising from the implementation of e-kharid.

“We are working on direct payment into farmers’ accounts in consultation with arhtiyas, for which a couple of meetings have already been held with them. We have also sought suggestions from them for the implementation of this innovative scheme of the Union and state governments,” says Raj Kumar Beniwal, chief marketing enforcement officer (CMEO), HSAMB.

Divergent views

Ashok Gupta, president of the Haryana State Anaj Mandi Arhtiyas’ Association, claims that the arhtiyas’ contribution to the Green Revolution was no

less than that of farmers and the

government. He says arhtiyas and farmers continue to have cordial

relations in Haryana. Rattan Mann, state president, BKU (Mann), says the government should initiate steps to make the farmers self-reliant by

ensuring that payments are transferred into their accounts and they are no longer dependent on arhtiyas for loans.