Rice over riots in Chhattisgarh: The paddy trade in Red hotbed

Pappu Potai, a farmer from village Kadandi in restive Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, never anticipated that paddy could earn him good returns.

The young farmer, living in a village tucked away unobtrusively in the unfamiliar Abujmarh region of Bastar, has been giving away the yield at throwaway rates since the villagers have limited resources at their disposal.

For, no government schemes have earlier reached the pocket that Maoists claimed to be their ‘liberated’ zone. Since only a handful of traders approached, following Red terror, the villagers have the least room for price negotiation.

Potai has been taking paddy crops in about three and a half acres of land. Setting aside a portion for his family’s needs, he has been selling paddy for Rs 1,000-1,100 per quintal to local traders. He could not sell the produce and earn a minimum support price (MSP) as the villagers have no revenue land record.

The Abujmarh area, where the Maoist outfit once reportedly set up its headquarters because of hostile terrain, has never been surveyed in the past. Consequently, the inhabitants were deprived of land rights, officially.

The Bhupesh Baghel government took the initiative and conducted the Masahati study. The process facilitates the administration to determine the landholdings of villagers through the gram sabha instead of a revenue survey that requires capturing satellite images and door-to-door compilation of records.

Potai received the Masahati patta (land ownership deed). That changed his life forever.

With 32 quintals of paddy, Potai approached the procurement centre set up by the state government. He was elated when the employees informed him that he would be getting Rs 80,000 for the yield.

Besides MSP, the Congress government in Chhattisgarh has been providing a bonus to farmers under Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana to ensure sellers get Rs 2,500 for a quintal of paddy.

Potai is not the only one.

Over 2,000 farmers from the interior areas of the worst Maoist-infested Narayanpur district will be selling paddy for the first time at MSP at the procurement centres since they have also received the Masahati patta.

“In the current kharif season, 2,193 farmers of Abujmarh will sell paddy for the first time in the government society,” says a senior district official.

In all, 246 villages were notified for the Masahati survey in Narayanpur district by the revenue department.

Until now, surveys of 110 villages have been completed successfully, the official said, adding that Masahati pattas have been distributed to over 7,700 people. Besides selling the produce at MSP, the villagers will now be able to avail of loans and prosper in farming.