Haryana farmers upset as ‘tardy’ paddy lifting delays payments

Slow lifting of paddy from grain markets has delayed payments to farmers in Haryana during the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2026-27, even as official data shows substantial progress in arrivals and procurement.

Transporters and arhtiyas say employees spend excessive time on formalities instead of operations, while internet connectivity issues compound the problem. (HT Photo)

According to the latest data by Wednesday, total arrivals and gate pass stood at 41.3 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) involving 5,46,990 farmers and of this, 36.4 LMT had been auctioned (auction rate 88.2%). But only 27.7 LMT of the purchased paddy has been lifted till the date.

According to the reports, the government has cleared the minimum support price (MSP) payments totalling ₹6,389.6 crore and the payment of around 8 LMT of procured paddy was on hold due to slow lifting.

According to the figures, out of roughly 36 LMT of procured stock, lifting has reached only about 27–28 LMT, leaving a significant backlog in mandis.

Gap between purchase and lifting persists as arrivals accelerate

The reports from the mandis reveal that technical glitches in the new vehicle-tracking system —including intermittent GPS failures that mark trucks as inactive and delays in generating inward gate passes have slowed movement in major paddy growing districts like Karnal, Fatehabad, Kaithal and Sirsa.

Transporters and arhtiyas say employees spend excessive time on formalities instead of operations, while internet connectivity issues compound the problem.

Amit Kumar a farmer from Ambala’s Mulana said, “ I had sold my paddy of around ₹5.2 lakh, 15 days ago but i did not get any payment yet”.

Another farmer Munish Kumar from Rohtak said that due to delay in lifting, the government agencies do not clear payment as the J form is prepared only after the lifting and payment is cleared after 72 hours of lifting. Due to slow lifting farmers have reported shortage of space, and the produce lying in open.

However, officials have responded by advancing procurement to September 29 from usual October 1, deploying nodal officers issuing directions for timely payments and faster lifting and allowing verified high-yield claims beyond earlier per-acre caps after farmer protests.

Following reports of slow lifting and delayed payments Haryana agriculture minister Shyam Singh Rana during his visit to various mandis have issued repeated instructions to officials to ensure timely lifting of entire procured paddy so that farmers could get their dues as per the schedule.