The deputy commissioner (DC) of Mysore has found that some allegations of the tobacco growers of Mysore district against local officials of the Tobacco Board that they had colluded with vested interests and the officials themselves were doing business, to be true.
He has found the allegations to be true as the director (auction) and the local officials of the board could not give satisfactory clarifications on the farmers’ charges at a meeting held in the DC’s office on February 28.
In a letter to the regional commissioner, Mysore division, after the meeting with the office-bearers of the Karnataka State Tobacco Growers’ Action Committee, Hunsur, the DC said, “During the meeting, the allegations of unregistered growers were found to be true as the director (auction) and the local officials of the Tobacco Board could not give satisfactory clarifications on this issue.”
“There were serious allegations of wrong doings by local officers of the Board,” he said and mentioned the name of one official in particular. “The farmers alleged that the local officials of the board are colluding with vested interests, and officials themselves are doing business. The local farmers are also demanding a CBI inquiry into the allegations,” and said unless the genuine issues of the farmers are addressed, it would be difficult to stop their protests.
Forwarding the action committee representation made to him to the board director (auction) headquartered in Bangalore on July 15, the DC asked him to take further action.
The action committee has urged the state and central governments to seize the unauthorised licences and those held unauthorisedly by certain agents and publication of their names. It has demanded the transfer the board officials working for about 25 years and action against those indulging in corruption. It has also urged the publication of the names of licence holders in each village and opportunity for all farmers to sell tobacco in the board by offering a fair price.
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Releasing the DC’s letters today, action committee honorary president Harihara Anandaswamy said a state-level convention of the tobacco growers would take place on July 25 at Hunsur to create awareness among them on the illegalities in the board and to press their seven demands.
Since the board started functioning in 1975, 42,000 tobacco growers were given licences.
Some of these farmers’ families had split into many families over the years, some of whom were not cultivating tobacco, but still held a licence, while some were cultivating tobacco without licence and had no opportunity to sell to the board. As a result, middlemen, powerful farmers, board officials and other vested interests were indulging in malpractices and exploiting farmers, he alleged.
While over 100,000 genuine tobacco growers existed in the state, the number of illegal licence holders around 17,000 and their licences be confiscated, demanded committee president Govindaiah adding genuine small farmers were compelled to give Rs 30-40 commission to lincence holders to sell tobacco.