M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Aug 9: ‘If there is drought, hoarding can’t be far behind’. This maxim prevails in Palamu whenever it reels under any calamity.
Whenever Palamu has had bouts of drought, it has faced numerous problems of hoardings, especially of food grains and edible oils.
From the 1966-67 famine down to the drought-like situation in 2022 with the wait for the state government to declare Palamu as a drought-hit district, this district has seen nearly 12 bouts of drought in its 56 years (every 4 years and above or so).
Sources said in each bout, hoarding used to occur and the administration had to carry out anti-hoarding operations. The then 7 ECs Act (essential commodities) used to be invoked due to this.
The hoardings start at the panchayat level in Palamu. There are too many food grain stockists even in the villages who in times of scarcity, make an evil fortune, according to sources.
Hoardings are remotely linked to petrol pumps. It is a food-fuel combination here. No bullock cart is used to ferry food grains now either for stocking or smuggling. In the 70s, 80s, 90s, etc Palamu had not many petrol pumps here as it is today around 115 plus.
The petrol pumps then used to pass on information about food grains being smuggled out from here or being stocked in any surreptitious move. Every food grain stockist has his particular petrol pump for fuel for his transpiration of the food grains.
Then weights and measurements offices here were activated then to coordinate with the petrol pumps to curb any smuggling of food grains from here to other places or import of food grains from other places to Palamu.
The spectre of drought is widening and spreading. Sources said unscrupulous traders and businessmen are watching the trend as closely as stockbrokers read the ‘bull’ of the Sensex.
The thing that is most hoarded is rice as paddy growing is in a disastrous condition in Palamu following a lack of rainwater.
The BDO cum CO of Panki, Nirbhay Kumar, said paddy cultivation has been very dismal in his block.
“Under the order of Palamu DC Anjaneyulu Dodde, we have completed our homework like figuring out the number of farmers who have not been able to cultivate paddy and even those who are struggling to have paddy where their land is low and surface water availability is good. We have the list of irrigated and unirrigated chunks of land.”
On the issue that the poor here eat rice and this time paddy is going to be scarce, Nirbhay Kumar said, “We understand poor having ration cards and also having coverage for PM Garib Kalyan Yojna are getting rice easily and so the craving for rice is not desperate at the moment.”
Notably, 35 kg of rice comes under Garib Kalyan Yojna and it stands through thick and thin for the poor.
