CHANDIGARH, OCT 22: Having banned the entry of paddy from Punjab, the Om Prakash Chautala Government today allowed farmers in border areas of Uttar Pradesh to sell their produce in mandis in the state.The decision, which was taken by the Chief Minister late last night after his UP counterpart Ram Prakash Gupta made a request in this regard, came as a relief to hundreds of farmers waiting at the UP-Haryana border with 400 paddy-laden trucks and trolleys. The farmers had blocked the Delhi-Agra National Highway for two days, demanding permission to enter Haryana. The BJP Government in UP swung into action after leaders of Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal and other Opposition parties joined the farmers and threatened to launch a state-wide agitation.It is learnt that the Haryana Government has permitted the UP farmers to sell their produce in mandis at Hodal, Hassanpur and Palwal. ``The government has given permission to the farmers in Mathura and Agra districts of UP as these three mandis are not in paddy-growing areas. The ban on entry of Punjab paddy was imposed because if we had allowed it they would have flooded our mandis in the paddy belt of the state,'' a senior Haryana official remarked.The Haryana Government had earlier allowed the sale of paddy from UP and Punjab in the first few days of procurement, but its entry was banned eight days ago when the Food and Supplies Department received reports of resentment among local farmers. The relaxation to UP farmers is expected to hurt the sentiments of Punjab farmers - they had carted thousands of tonnes of paddy to mandis in Pehowa, Ismailabad and Kaithal after Chautala invited them to sell their paddy in his state, but were turned away.Worse, the state authorities imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on truckers carrying paddy from Punjab. The ban also led to exploitation of the affected farmers by arhtiyas and distress sales.
