Hundreds of paddy farmers blocked NH512 that connects Malda and South Dinajpur on Monday morning, alleging irregularities at the state-run paddy procurement centre of the Kisan Mandi in Malda’s Gazole.

Farmers of Gazole, one of the largest paddy producing blocks of Malda, alleged that only one counter of the paddy procurement camp of the Kisan Mandi was open, which slowed the process of selling paddy. This deprived many of minimum support price (MSP) and helped middlemen thrive, they alleged.

At a time farmers are protesting in Delhi against farm laws that allegedly removed the MSP buffer, this agitation shed light on challenges that growers have to face even outside of the laws.

Farmers’ fronts of the Left and Congress jumped into the fray, opening a toll plaza on NH12 near the NH512 to enable vehicles to go through without paying tax. Police had to go to the spot to control the agitation. The situation became normal by afternoon.

Farmers like Sunil Baskey, Dibakar Sarkar, Mamud Hassan and Akhtar Hossain said the single counter had delayed the whole process of trade and affected their income.

“Last week, we had to take back our produce home as there was a long queue (at the single mandi counter). This week, the situation was the same. It deterred us from getting MSP. We were asked to come after two or three months. Frustrated with this delay, many farmers were forced to sell their paddy in the open market at a much lower price,” said Hassan.

Another farmer alleged that as MSP for paddy was higher in Bengal than neighbouring states, some middlemen procured paddy from Bihar, brought it to the mandi and sold it there for a tidy profit. “They are running a syndicate while genuine farmers like us are getting deprived (of a fair price),” said Sunil.

Malda DM Rajarshi Mitra said some people were trying to foil the aim of the (paddy procurement) camp for vested interests. “We will open another procurement centre by Friday,” he said.