Orissa

Sambalpur

CC/96/2022

Nihar Ranjan Patel - Complainant(s)

Versus

1. Saroj Kumar Sahu (M.D., Kuchinda Lamp) - Opp.Party(s)

27 Mar 2023

ORDER

PRESIDENT, DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, SAMBALPUR

                             CONSUMER COMPLAINT NO. 96/2022

Present-Dr. Ramakanta Satapathy, President,

  Sri. Sadananda Tripathy, Member,

Nihar Ranjan Patel,

S/O-Nrupalal Patel,

At/PO-Kuleigarh(Kudapada),

Ps-Kuchinda, Dist-Sambalpur-768222.               .……….......Complainant.

Vrs.

1. Saroj Kumar Sahu (M.D., Kuchinda Lamp)

At/Po/Ps-Kuchinda, Dist-Sambalpur-768222, Odisha.

2. Bhabani Kanta Naik,

Assistant Registrar of Co-operative Societies,

Kuchinda Circle (ARCS, Kuchinda)

At/PO/Ps-Kuchinda, Dist-Sambalpur, Odisha-768222.

3. Sri. Lingaraj Nayak

Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Sambalpur Division (DRCS, Sambalpur), At/Po/Ps/Dist-Sambalpur.-768001,

1.  

Counsels:-

1. For the Complainant      :-          Self
2. For the O.P.1                   :-          Sri. Anil Sahoo, Advocate & Associates
3. For the O.P. No.2 & 3     :-         Sri. Bhabani Kanta Naik, A.R.C.S., Kuchinda

 

Date of Filing:27.12.2022,  Date of Hearing :13.03.2022  Date of Judgement : 27.03.2022

  Presented by Dr. Ramakanta Satapathy, PRESIDENT

1. The Complainant filed this case alleging deficiency in service of the O.Ps. The Complainant is a farmer of village Kudapada under O.P. No.1 LAMPs having farmer Code:F28050000108. Land of khata No. 228/164-AC 8.37 and Khata No. 160/84-AC 1.80 land are cultivated by the complaint for which applied for registration before O.P. no.1. On 27.11.2022 a message for sale of paddy No. 76 came in the mobile for 50.52 quintal. When asked for in tool free number he came to know that only for AC 2.88 land registration has been made in place of 180 to 200 quintal paddy. The Complainant used to cultivate AC 8.37 through private lift point and twice in a year produce the ‘Khariff’ and ‘Ravi’ paddy. The Complainant complaint before the O.Ps but no any resolution made. On 10.12.2022 in the office of O.P. No.2 came to know that without verification of land of khata No. 228/164 has not been checked and blocked the total land. Although cultivation was made but report not shown as a result, the said land was not registered.

The Complainant made complaint before the sub Collector Kuchinda and also O.Ps to show him the actual cause of non-registration but it was in vain. For non registration of land the Complainant debarred to sale the procured paddy. To inspect and report, the O.Ps were requested for which the Complainant cut the paddy late as a result paddy was damaged due to birds and animals. For the negligence of the O.Ps and deficiency in service the Complainant was harassed.

Being aggrieved this Complaint was filed.

2. The O.P. No.1 in its version submitted that this complaint suffers from non-joinder of necessary parties. The Principal Secretary Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department, Orissa, M.D. Odisha State Civil Supply Corporation Ltd(OSCSC) and C.S.O., Sambalpur have not been made party. The paddy procurement PPAS module is available in supply Deptt. The O.P. No.1 on the application for registration and documents uploaded the data. Joint field verification was done by the team constituted by Collector, Sambalpur including officials of revenue, Agriculture and Co-operation department and then the O.P. No.1 up dated the data as per report of joint verification team. The documents are submitted to O.P. No.3 for approval of PPAS. The detail registration are not available with O.P. No.1.

To avoid middle man in a transparent way PPAS(Paddy Procurement Automation System) is operated to achieve error free transaction. The D.R.C.S., Sambalpur approves the total area of land submitted by O.P. No.1. The complaint of Complainant has been sent to O.P. No.3. Only five plots have been confirmed and three plots out of 8 has not been confirmed on suspicion. The O.P. No.1 visited the filed and suspected plots by using mobile App and the photographs of said plots automatically uploaded in the PPAS system leaving no scope for O.P. No.1.

There is no any deficiency on the part of the O.P. No.1. The grievance of the Complainant can be resolved by issuing a token in favour of Complainant before 31.03.2023 so that the O.P. No.1 can purchase paddy. The case needs to be dismissed.

3. The O.P. No.2 & 3 in their version submitted that the allegations of the Complainant are not true. As per letter No. 9834 dated 04.07.2022 guide lines issued by Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Deptt. Govt. of Orissa Farmers willing to sale their paddy have to register their name at LAMPCs with all details. The LAMPCs check the correctness of the entries in the registration form with copy of R-O-R, Aadhar Card, Bank pass-book, consent letter of owner/Bhaga Chasi etc. The Secretary/M.D. of LAMPs is responsible for entry in system to check inflated claims. PPAS is prepared in society level. After digitalisation, joint verification team constituted by collector verify the field thereafter transmit back the forms for up-datation at society level. The Society up-dates the change in PPAS and submit it in online mode. The O.P. No.3 approves the total acres of land submitted online by the LAMPCs. No plot wise detail is available in office of O.P. No.3. The farmer-wise total acres is reflected on DRCs login. DRCs  gives online approval on the certification of total acreage by M.D. LAMPCs and supervising officer.

Basing on approved data, the satellite imagery survey is done by ORSAC(Orissa Space Application Centre) and suspected “paddy not cultivated” plots are resurveyed by the staffs of LAMPCs using mobile application Odisha Paddy Land Survey Application (OPLS), capture the photo of the land and upload it through the application. In mobile application only Khata No., Plot No. and area of land is available and no farmer detail is available. There is no scope to harass any particular farmer. On competition of the satellite survey process token to sale paddy is issued centrally through SMS in the registered mobile of the farmer by food supplies and Consumer Welfare Department.

There is no deficiency on the part of the O.P. No.3 and prayed for rejection of the complaint against O.P. No.2 & 3.

4. Perused the documents filed by the Complainant and O.Ps. The Complainant on 12.12.2022 made application before Sub-Collector, Sambalpur, on 19.12.2022 before the O.P. No.2 and 13.12.2022 before the O.P. No.1. An affidavit of Nrupala Patel, S/O Late Rajendra Patel filed authorisation of his son to cultivate land of M.S. Khata No. 228/164 of mouza-Kuleigarh Ps-Kuchinda, Copy of Khata No. 228/164 mouza-Kuleigarh, TPWODL permission for power supply to 8K.M. irrigation pumping and agriculture load vide letter dated 142 dated 27.01.2021 along with power supply agreement dated 20.07.2021.

The O.Ps filed guidelines for ensuing procurement of paddy(Khariff Crop) for the KMS-2022-23, order NO. 3623 dated 19.07.2022 of collector, Sambalpur, constituting Revenue Inspector of Concerned Circle VAW of Concerned G.P. and secretary of PACs/LAMPCs/WSHG as field functionaries, order No. 3611 dated 19.07.2022 of the Collector, Sambalpur regarding supervision and monitoring of farmer Registration, circular letter No. 9834 dated 04.07.2022 of FS & CW Deptt. Govt. of Odisha, Enquiry report of Inspector Co-Op. Society Sri. Shiva Prasad Maharana dated 14.12.2022.

The Complainant submitted report of Asst. Agriculture officer, Kuchinda dated 10.03.2023 vide letter No. 408, application made to Tahsildar, Kuchinda, dated 17.02.2023 report of Pani Panchayat, Kudapada-3(L-1) dated 26.02.2023.

The O.P. No.2 & 3 submitted the farmer Registration No. F-28050000108 and satellite image of the operator and field.

5. After perusal of documents, version and complaints the following issues are framed:
103606587.  

1. Whether non-registration of AC 8.37 of land of the Complainant for paddy procurement during KMS 22-23 is intentional or actually the land was not cultivated/lying barren?
2. Whether the complaint suffers from non-joinder of necessary parties?
3. Is there any deficiency in service of the O.Ps?
4. What relief the Complainant is entitled to get?

Issue No.1 Whether non-registration of AC 8.37 of land of the Complainant for paddy procurement during KMS 22-23 is intentional or actually the land was not cultivated/lying barren?

It is the admission of both the parties that only AC 2.88 land of the Complainant has been registered and 50.52 quintal paddy token was granted. From the correspondences made by the Complainant dated 12.12.2022 & 13.12.2022 to the O.Ps including Sub-Collector, Sambalpur it says that his land of Khata No. 228/164 mouza-Kuleigarh Tahsil-Kuchinda has been ignored in the paddy procurement system and for which he could not get the token for the said land. It is further allegation of the Complainant that he was not provided with the report of the joint verification team which was constituted by the collector, Sambalpur namely Revenue Inspector, VAW of his G.P. and Secretary/MD of the LAMPCs. The O.P. No.1 in his version submitted that “he registered the name of the Complainant through PPAS as per details particulars furnished in the registration form. The entire land consists of 11 plots cultivated to sale paddy. The O.P. No.1 digitalized the data and sent it to joint verification team for physical field verification constituted by collector, Sambalpur. After completion of joint field verification the O.P. No.1 found that out of 11 plots only 8 plots are cultivated, the O.P. No.1 made changes and updated the particulars data of 8 plots through PPAS”

From the above statement it is clear that the O.P. No.1 is the centre of all the process of paddy procurement process declared by the Govt. FS & CW Department. Govt. of Orissa in the LAMPS are/respective Society area. The O.Ps filed the joint verification report which is the very foundation of this complaint. It is the admission of O.P. No.1 that he made entry of the eligible 8 plots and left the rest plots. The joint verification team i.e. R.I., Kuturuchuan, A.O. Kulaigarh and O.P. No.1 signed the joint verification report, updated AC 3.89 land. While filing the application form the total land Ac 10.37 was reflected and water source has been shown as “lift”, where as  it was reported only AC 3.89 as cultivated land. The Supervisory officer also made the signature in the report.

          The Complainant obtained the report of Asst. Agriculture officer, Kuchinda who said vide letter No. 408 dated 10.03.2023 that it is not possible to ascertain crop yield report as paddy crop already harvested from field for Kharif 2022-23. The Pani Panchayat, Kudapada-3 they reported that since last 7 to 8 years the Complainant is using water from lift and cultivating land of khata No. 228/164 during Khariff and Rabi. From the above statement it is clear that the Complainant is using the land by taking water through Pani Panchayat and he has also a lift point of his own since 27.01.2021 as per agreement with TPWODL. The joint verification team without going to the filed made the report and it was executed/Modified in the PPAS by the O.P. No.1 as per procedure. From the joint verification  report it transpires that there is best co-ordination of the team members of joint verification team and the supervision Sri Shiva Prasad Maharana and Prasanna Kumar Dehury I.S.

The processing of the farmer registration and digitalisation was done by O.P. No.1. Without proper filed verification report was prepared by the O.P. No.1 taking signatures of verification team. To save his skin the other officers like supervisors and the O.Ps joint hand for which a wrong report was prepared, verified, validation made and the ultimate result is the present complaint.

Paddy procurement is a time bound process and it totally rests on the society. In order to protect the MD/Secretary the Govt. has prepared the procedure so that joint liability can be fixed. No doubt, the scheme prepared and procedures prescribed are to check the unscrupulous paddy sellers but at time the scheme fails due to non-working of the field machinery. The PPAS, Satellite imagery etc. procedures prescribed are for actual paddy procurement system but the system is misused as a result innocent farmers suffer.

Basing on the statement of the Pani Panchayat  and TPWODL power supply agreement this Commission is of view that the Complainant cultivated the land shown in his application form but the O.P. No.1 including joint verification team without field survey prepared the survey report which is not acceptable. The O.P. No.1 entered the data intentionally on the system showing cultivated land as AC 3.89 and accordingly Satellite imagery was prepared. The satellite picture submitted is also not acceptable as there is no specific details of the cultivated/not cultivated plots reflected in the imagery. As per sweet will of the O.P. No.1 the P.PAS was prepared and the Complainant suffered.

Sri. Shiva Prasad Maharana, I.C.S. O/O A.R.C.S. Kuchinda in his inquiry report dated 14.12.2022 in finding said “non cultivated land might have detected. So the token issued by FS & CW is Q. 50.52Kg. There is no any option to prove it”.  The report submitted is a stereo-type report without any practicality. Mr. Maharana has been declared as supervisor to the joint verification team constituted by collector, Sambalpur vide order No. 3611 dated 19.07.2022.

Issue No.2 Whether the complaint suffers from non-joinder of necessary parties?

The Complainant is a cultivator and contesting his own case having without any knowledge of question of law. No doubt the paddy procurement system is complex process and involvement of different-department like Co-operation, agriculture, revenue and food civil supply is there but the entire responsibility is casted upon the co-operation department. The O.P. No.1 has maintained all the records starting from application to issuance of token. As the O.P. No.1 is a ground level worker having acquaintance with local people and officials also, it was his duty to prepare and maintain correct report/data till issuance of token. The other officials like members of joint verification team are necessary parties including supervisors, A.R.C.S. and D.R.C.S. as confirmation/Approval is made by O.P. No.3.

The other officials like supply department are not necessary parties in this nature if complaint as they are suggested to procure paddy after issuance of token. This complaint is based on non-issuance of token only. The O.Ps can not deny their liability in their assigned work as not complied properly after verification. They can not shift their responsibility on others.

The issue is answered accordingly.

Issue No.3 Is there any deficiency in service of the O.Ps?

From the supra discussion it is clear that the O.Ps are deficient in their respective service for which the Complainant suffered, harassed and knocked the door of the Commission. After receipt of the notice also the O.Ps failed to take the responsibility of sale of paddy although the date line is 31^st March 2023 as admitted by O.P. No.1, who is ready to purchase the paddy subject to issuance of token.

Who will bell the Cat? On this principal the Complainant was neglected. The O.Ps are deficient in their respective service assigned in circular No. 9834 dated 04.07.2022 FS & CW Deptt. Govt. of Orissa and violated the order No. 3623 dated 19.07.2022 of the Collector, Sambalpur.

The issue is answered accordingly.

Issue No.4 What relief the Complainant is entitled to get?

From the Supra discussion the Complainant is entitled for relief as he made registration of cultivated land and only PPAS of AC 3.89 was issued due to deficiency in service of the O.Ps.

Accordingly it is ordered:

ORDER

The Complaint is allowed on contest against the O.Ps. The O.Ps are deficient in their service violating the direction of the circular No. 9834 dated 04.07.2022 Govt. of Orissa FS & CW Deptt. and Order No. 3623 dated 19.07.2022 of collector, Sambalpur. For the lapses of the O.Ps P.PAS for land of khata No. 228/164- AC 8.37 and Khata No. 160/184-AC 1.80 total AC 10.17 could not be prepared. The O.P. No.3 is directed to move the matter before Principal Secretary FS & CW Deptt. Govt. of Orissa for consideration of P.PAS of the Complainant through Collector, Sambalpur and the process shall be completed within one month of this order.

In case of non-issuance of P.PAS the O.Ps shall be liable to pay compensation of Rs. 2,00,000/- each to the Complainant and litigation expenses of Rs. 10,000/- each.

Order pronounced in open court on this 27^th day of March 2023.

Supply free copies to the parties.