[Farmer's Plea] Kerala High Court Directs Expert Committee To Submit Report On Paddy Procurement Process

Justice Devan Ramachandran passed the interim order while considering a plea moved by the paddy-cultivating farmers of Palakkad district who have approached the Court seeking for measures to revamp and improve the paddy procurement system.

“ Therefore, I have no doubt that Government must now pull up their socks – in a manner of speaking; and deal proactively with the concerns of the petitioners and other farmers – the first of which is to have the Expert Committee make a proper report.”

The Expert Committee was set up by the Government as per order dated January 19, 2023. It was constituted for studying and resolving the issues/complaints in the present mode of the paddy procurement system in the state. The Expert Committee as per the Government Order includes:

1. Dr. V.K. Baby- Chairman
2. Dr. Sriram Venkitaraman- Convener & Member Secretary
3. L.R. Aarathi- Co-convener & Member Secretary

Counsel for the petitioners, Advocates Aruna A and Jisha Shaji, submitted before the Court that there was no uniform standard for calculating paddy production costs and allied expenditures incurred by the farmers. It was submitted that the State Incentive Bonus offered by the government was inadequate as it was fixed in an irrational and ad hoc manner, without considering any accurate statistical evaluation.

Special Government Pleader, S. Ranjith submitted before the Court that specific instructions will be obtained regarding the date by which the Expert Committee can submit its report before the Court. The Court was also informed that the paddy procurement system has commenced and will be completed without delay.

The Court noted that despite being constituted in January 2023, the Expert Committee is yet to make their report. The Court noted that there should not be further delay in addressing the genuine complaints of the farmers.

“In the present milieu, the support to farmers by the State is extremely important. They produce the grains and if they are not properly incentivised, they will begin to wonder why they should continue to do so. The self- sufficiency of our State in production of food will depend upon the support given to our farmers; and obviously, any delay in adverting to their genuine complaints would be deleterious to the interest of the State as a whole.”, the Court stated.

The matter has been posted for further consideration on November 20, 2023.

Case title: K.Mohanan v State of Kerala

Case number: WP(C) NO. 30251 OF 2023

Click Here To Read/Download The Interim Order