A 12-hour bandh from 6 am to 6 pm disrupted life in Odisha’s Sambalpur district as farmers launched protests against alleged irregularities in Kharif paddy procurement.
The Sambalpur Krushak Suraksha Sangathan organised the agitation, and hundreds of farmers joined by staging picketing at multiple locations. Moreover, they alleged serious mismanagement in the procurement process and claimed that between 8,000 and 10,000 procurement tokens had gone missing from mobile systems. As a result, the absence of these tokens created confusion and prevented many farmers from selling their produce smoothly.
Consequently, shops, markets, schools, and colleges remained closed throughout the bandh. On the other hand, national highways and railway services stayed outside the purview of the protest, and no road blockade or rail roko occurred.
Furthermore, an agitator declared that the protest would continue until corrective steps are taken. Farmers demanded a change in the existing procurement policy to ensure transparency and fairness.
Despite the widespread shutdown, the situation in Sambalpur remained peaceful. In fact, authorities confirmed that no untoward incidents occurred during the bandh.
