Ex-CM Baghel slams govt on paddy procurement & SIR

Raipur: Congress national general secretary and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday criticised the state govt over issues concerning paddy procurement, the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and administrative irregularities.Speaking to reporters in Raipur, Baghel stated that the difficulties in paddy procurement were evident across the state, causing distress to farmers. He alleged that thousands of farmers were facing problems because their names were struck off the list, preventing them from selling their grain. He claimed that server outages were stalling the issuance of tokens, and the procurement process, based on girdawari (crop inspection) reports, was flawed.Farmers, according to him, are able to sell only 15 to 17 quintals per acre instead of the promised 21 quintals due to discrepancies in digital crop survey and girdawari data. Baghel alleged that thousands of farmers' acreage was reduced due to the Agritech Portal. He claimed the govt would not buy paddy from lakhs of farmers, including those with tribal land titles, and that the server issues were forcing farmers to suffer exploitation at the hands of kochiyas (touts) and middlemen.Questioning the SIR process, Baghel said booth level officers (BLOs) were under immense pressure and facing mental harassment while trying to submit forms. Baghel accused the Election Commission of attempting to strike names off the voters' list. He used the colloquial term Kechua (earthworm) to refer to the Central Election Commission, saying he only heard of deaths due to snake or scorpion bites, not earthworm bites. On the issue of Rohingya and Bangladeshi immigrants, he stated the govt failed to provide any concrete figures, calling it "mere political exploitation."

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