Even though farmers visit the Food Management and Trading Company office every day to sell rice, they are often turned away saying that the tokens have been distributed a week in advance for the month of Mangsir 30.
What you should know
Devi Lal Koirala of Nimbukheda, Bhimdatta Municipality-18, visited the Mahendranagar office of the Food Management and Trading Company three times to obtain tokens to sell rice. But he has not received the tokens yet.
‘The tokens have been distributed till Mangsir 3, now they say they will be distributed only after that,’ said Koirala, ‘I have kept the rice at home to sell in food, now I have to sell it cheaply to traders who cannot afford food.’ He had been selling rice in Funi Food for the past few years. Like Koirala, farmers are reaching the company’s office every day demanding tokens to sell rice. But Food has already distributed tokens a week in advance for Mangsir 3. ‘This year the quota is low, that’s why we haven’t been able to get tokens easily,’ said Ishwar Upadhyay, another farmer from Mahendranagar, ‘I have kept the rice at home to sell in food, now I can’t get tokens.’ He also has to sell about 20 quintals of rice.
The Food Management and Trading Company has received a quota of only 5,000 quintals of paddy in Mahendranagar. The company, which started purchasing from Kartik 16, has purchased 3,300 quintals as of Friday. ‘Now, more paddy can be purchased only if the quota is increased, otherwise it seems that the quota will be fulfilled from the tokens that have already been distributed,’ said Manoj Chand, who is working as the fourth assistant information officer at the company’s Mahendranagar office. ‘The tokens have been distributed since the day the purchase started, but now it has been stopped because there are too many distributions.’
He said that around 300 quintals of paddy are being purchased daily. According to him, farmers are now inquiring about tokens by visiting the office and even over the phone.
Farmers are attracted to sell paddy here as the company is offering better prices than the market. Currently, traders are buying at Rs 24-25 per quintal in the market. The Food and Agriculture Organization is purchasing coarse rice at Rs 3,463 per quintal and medium rice at Rs 3,688 per quintal.
Last year, the Food and Agriculture Organization had a quota of 15,000 quintals of paddy in Mahendranagar. But since only 3,300 quintals were purchased at that time, the quota has been reduced this time.
The Food and Agriculture Organization has also set up a collection center in Punarbas Municipality in the southern part of the district. Paddy procurement has started in that area from Thursday. The quota of 2,000 quintals of paddy has been obtained in Punarbas.
