Revoke ban on transportation of dry fodder: Farmers to govt

BJP MP FROM BHIWANI-MAHENDERGARH DHARAMBIR SINGH WRITES TO HARYANA CM, URGING HIM TO ROLL BACK THE DECISION ON FODDER TRANSPORTATION

ROHTAK: Farm unions and political leaders of Haryana have criticised the decision to ban the sale of dry fodder made of straw of wheat, mustard, paddy and guar and its transportation in Jhajjar, Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Yamunanagar and other parts of the state.

The district authorities claimed that they have made this decision in view of fodder crises and saving it from selling to brickkiln and cardboard factories.

Dayanand Punia, state secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha, said farmers in Bhiwani, Dadri and Mahendergarh had sown mustard on large area due to high prices in the market as compared to wheat and they are dependent on dry fodder made of straw wheat which is being transported from Hisar, Jind and Rohtak. “The government should revoke its decision, otherwise we would be forced to launch an agitation,” he added.

The tractor owners, who had been engaged in the business of selling dry fodder, said local administrative officials in Hisar, Bhiwani, Sirsa, Jhajjar and Fatehabad have been forcing them to unload their fodder trolley at local gaushalas at Rs 500 per trailer.

“We used to buy the wheat straw at Rs 700 -750 per quintal, besides charging Rs 80 per quintal as labour cost for loading it. We have agreement with villagers at a rate of Rs 900 to Rs 950 per quintal but the officials are forcing us to unload the fodder trolleys at gaushala at Rs 500 per quintal. The government’s move will push us into poverty and we won’t be able to deposit our tractor’s EMI. Animals will also die of hunger if they won’t get fodder,” he added.

BJP MP from Bhiwani-mahendergarh, Dharambir Singh, wrote to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday and urged him to roll back the ban on the fodder transportation.

“There are more than 100 gaushalas in my constituency and cows need dry fodder. If the ban on the transportation of fodder won’t be lifted, the cows will die of hunger. Many areas in my constituency did not grow wheat and the animals there are completely dependent on the fodder which is being transported from wheat-surplus areas like Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra and other districts. I urge you to revoke this decision because the price of dry fodder has risen to Rs 1,200 per quintal,” the MP added.

Tosham MLA Kiran Choudhry said the BJP government used to claim that farmers can sell their produce in any part of the country and now they are banning the transportation of fodder from one district to another.

“The way the farmers and tractor owners are forced to unload fodder at gaushala at a lower rate is painful and such incidents should be stopped,” she added.