Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Wednesday extended the kharif paddy procurement period in the state by seven days to safeguard farmers’ interests. The move seeks to ensure that no farmer’s token lapses during the current season.
Announcing this, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra said that 77 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been purchased by the Odisha Government so far. This has benefitted 18,54, 814 farmers, with Rs 22,884 crore disbursed to their bank accounts.
“We have taken all necessary steps so that the tokens issued to farmers do not lapse. As of now, we have ensured that the procurement process of paddy goes on for seven more days. We will ensure that no farmer will be left behind,” the Minister said.
This statement comes amid repeated demands of farmers for urgent procurement of their produce. There were protests in some districts in the last few days by farmers and farmer organisations, to bring the Government’s attention to procurement of their unsold paddy stock.
