Date:13/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/13/stories/2008051356940500.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Guntur

Compensation sought for more ryots

Staff Reporter

Collector visits fire-ravaged yard, promises payment in two days

Traders take out rally from Nagarampalem to Yard
Insurance agencies beign to conduct surveys

– Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

Emotive issue: Chilli farmers forcing their way into the chilli market yard for presenting their claims for loss of produce in fire at the Guntur yard on Monday.

GUNTUR: Payment of compensation to the chilli farmers, who had lost their stocks in the fire on the Agriculture Market Yard here on May 3, is turning critical by the day with number of claimants increasing enormously and commission agents and traders putting pressure on Government to pay compensation for 2.49 lakh bags instead of 92 lakh bags announced by it.

On Monday, Indian Chamber of Commerce joined the Guntur Chilli Merchants’ Association and organised a meeting at the KKR Plaza at Nagarampalem and took out a huge rally of traders and some farmers to District Collector’s office and submitted a memorandum urging the Collector to take into consideration the list provided by the trade.

“We want compensation paid to the farmers directly,” said association president Kilaru Roshaih.

The Chamber president Athukuru Anjaneyulu accompanied the Commission Agents to the Chilli Yard to submit a memorandum to the Managing Committee of the market yard seeking bare minimum arrangements to begin the trading process from May 15 as announced by the District Administration. “We are holding a meeting at the yard on Tuesday with all stakeholders on deciding the modalities for re-starting the auctions on the Guntur yard,” said Market Committee Chairman L. Appi Reddy.

District Collector B. Venkatesham visited the yard and assured the farmers that compensation for entire quantity they had lost would be paid within two days. He asked them not a make an issue out of it by coming to the yard, but register themselves over phone.

About 1,600 farmers submitted their claims on Monday alone, while the District Collector had ordered stopping of the receipt of claims on Sunday as none had come forward to register. By Monday evening 3,500 farmers had claimed loss of stocks (about 1 lakh) in addition to the 92,000 assessed by the Government.

Now the bone of contention was payment for stocks with the traders on that day, while the commission agents claim that the stocks belonged to farmers, the Government assesses the stock to be 1.57 lakh with the traders. Meanwhile, the insurance agencies were conducting surveys on the claims from the traders and market yard. Once this process was completed, removal of debris would be taken up.