Protesting that their paddy was not procured due to unavailability of gunny bags, hundreds of farmers blocked the national highway 30 near Bahigaon village in Kondagaon districts of Bastar region on Monday.
Staging chakka jam, the farmers were also raising slogans against the state government demanding to extend the last date for procurement alleging that there was unnecessary wastage of time in the process.
The highway was jammed for hours and the farmers dispersed only after they were pacified by sub divisional officer in the evening with a promise that the procurement process would get normal from Tuesday as sufficient gunny bags would be made available at the procurement centers.
According to information there was shortage of gunny bags in nearly 40 of the procurement centers of the region. Though the state government had extended the last day for paddy procurement by five more days, the administration failed to control the hassle and bustle at the end.
Notable, only a couple of days are left for the procurement by government as February 20 is the last date for the process to end.