Call it an election gimmick, but the cash-rich Punjab Mandi Board is all set to dole out crores for farmers this year. For a state that has it coffers empty, Mandi Board is one of the few healthy babies of the government. In a scheme launched recently, each Market Committee has been asked to keep aside Rs 2.55 lakh to be given to farmers through a lucky draw. The amount may seem small, but consider this: Punjab has 145 market committees, which brings the total prize money to Rs 3.69 crore for one season. The Mandi Board has netted nearly Rs 500 crore as market fee from both the rabi and kharif season. As per the scheme, a farmer will get one coupon for every 50 quintals of produce brought into the mandi. These coupons have to be printed in triplicate, as the scheme covers both the rabi and kharif season. Hence, the Mandi Board will have to get at least 1.50 lakh coupons printed. The entire exercise to execute the scheme, say sources, will cost the Mandi Board Rs 10 crore approximately. Each market committee has been asked to award one first prize of Rs 50,000, three second prizes of Rs 35,000 each, and five third prizes of Rs 20,000 each. The lucky draw will be held twice a year. One will be at the end of the wheat season, and another at the end of the paddy season.According to the letter given by Mandi Board, “This scheme is to motivate farmers to bring all their produce to mandis, and also to increase the revenue of the Board. This way, the farmers will also know first hand how much produce have they sold in a given season.”A senior functionary of the Mandi Board, “The objective may also be aimed at stopping the farmers from selling their produce outside the mandi, but how much is that. For paddy, the crop which does not make it to the mandis is less than 1per cent. Wheat farmers simply withhold the crop for some time, and sell it later in the year. Even then, this crop comes to the mandis. Basically all this is just to please the farmers ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.”Adds Ramneek Singh, a farmer from Amritsar, “This scheme says that a farmer should have the J form for every 50 quintals of produce sold. The reality is that many farmers do not have any access to these J forms, which are mostly with the arhtiyas. Why will the arhtiyas like the farmers to corner the awards? The lucky draw will have the middle men getting the awards in the name of the farmers,” he claimed.When contacted, Chairman Punjab Mandi Board Ajmer Singh Lakhowal said the idea was to ensure greater awareness among farmers, who do not claim their J forms from the arhtiyas. “These farmers come to us when problems on payment and bonus come us. Moreover, when we are earning so well, a slice of the pie can be given to the farmers; this is the constituency that we cater to primarily.” Lakhowal added that Haryana has disbanded this scheme, Punjab Mandi Board plans to go ahead with it. “If we are successful in the first year, we will bring cotton farmers under this scheme next year,” he promises.
