Jaipur: Fresh concerns have emerged among farmers in Rajasthan over recent procurement directives issued by Rajasthan State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd (Rajfed), with farmer groups alleging that the measures are arbitrary and financially burdensome.The controversy centres on an order mandating a Rs 500 stamp duty for certain categories of farmers, including co-holders and tenant farmers. Farmer groups have demanded that the fee be withdrawn immediately.The Kisan Mahapanchayat has criticised the current system of farmer registration and procurement for crops like gram and mustard. It said registrations are carried out using the state’s Jan Aadhaar system, which includes multiple family members, such as parents and siblings, under a single household identity.
Farmers argue that this should be treated as one unit for procurement purposes.“When registration is done through Jan Aadhaar, there should be no requirement for any stamp duty for selling gram and mustard,” said Rameshwar Prasad, a member of Kisan Mahapanchayat. “The order issued by Rajfed imposing a stamp duty fee of Rs 500 is causing financial losses to farmers.”“To avoid this financial loss, all members will have to leave all their farming work and go to e-Mitra kiosks for separate registrations for commodity registration,” Prasad added. “Due to small landholdings, farmers have been categorised as small and marginal, there is no need for stamp duty; instead, an affidavit on plain paper can be taken.”A memorandum addressed to the managing director of Rajfed, Jaipur, was submitted to the Tonk district collector.
