Agri policy likely by October
SHILLONG, SEPT 14: The Hill Farmers Union (HFU) on Monday warned that it will not keep quiet if the government refuses to compensate piggery farmers affected by African Swine Fever (ASF), even as Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma expressed difficulty in granting compensation and waiving loans under the Piggery Mission.
The meeting between the Chief Minister and the HFU delegation led by its president Commander Shangpliang came days after the union staged a protest march with pigs in the capital demanding intervention over the ASF outbreak.
“We recently took out a peaceful rally regarding the outbreak of African Swine Fever. Following that, we were invited by the Chief Minister’s office and we met him. We discussed specific points – stepping up of checkpoints, setting up of health checkup and quarantine centres, compensation and waiver of loans under the Piggery Mission,” Shangpliang told reporters after the meeting.
He said the Chief Minister has indicated that the government will look into setting up checkpoints and health checkup and quarantine centres, though no firm assurance was given.
“On checkpoints and quarantine centres, he did not give a specific assurance but we could sense that the Chief Minister will do the needful,” Shangpliang said.
On compensation and loan waiver, the HFU chief said the Chief Minister has expressed difficulty.
“He has shown difficulty in giving compensation and waiving loans, but he said he will discuss internally with officers of the department,” Shangpliang said.
The Union, however, made it clear that it will not remain silent if compensation is denied.
“We have stressed that compensation should be paid to piggery farmers. We will just not keep quiet if the government does not compensate,” Shangpliang warned.
Blaming the outbreak on unregulated import of pigs, he alleged that in the absence of proper veterinary checkpoints, pigs are being allowed to enter the state without health screening.
“We feel the outbreak is because of pigs brought into the state without proper health checkups. Had there been health checkups, infected pigs could have been detected and quarantined. Due to non-availability of health checkup checkpoints, police are conducting checks and collecting money while allowing pigs to enter freely without any health checkup,” he alleged.
Shangpliang also questioned the practicality of insurance for ASF-hit farmers.
“The government has been asking us to do insurance from time to time. But our experience is that when pigs are affected and we call doctors, they are not even ready to come to the shed, perhaps fearing human transmission. Under insurance procedure, we have to take photographs and conduct postmortem to be entitled for claims. If we wait till the pigs die and for postmortem to be completed, the disease spreads to other healthy pigs. So we bury pigs even before they die. Where is the insurance then? That is why compensation must be paid and loans of affected farmers, especially those who availed under the Piggery Mission, should be waived off. How will they repay when their pigs have died?” he said.
The delegation also raised the issue of the state’s Agriculture Policy, to which the Chief Minister informed that the draft policy has been put up on the government website for public suggestions.
“The government has drafted an agriculture policy and has sought suggestions from the public, especially the farming community. We will be submitting our suggestions and we request all farmers to go through the draft and send their suggestions to the department. The Chief Minister said the policy is likely to be finalised and approved by October this year,” Shangpliang added.
He said the Union has requested the Chief Minister to call them again after his internal discussion with the department so that they can provide more inputs to prevent future outbreaks due to import of livestock without health checkups.
