Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday stressed the
need for involvement of more small and marginal farmers in paddy
procurement process in Odisha.
Chairing a high-level meeting held at state secretariat here to review
the progress of paddy procurement in 2017, the Chief Minister said, “A
total of 9.76 lakh farmers were registered in 2016 kharif season while
11.05 lakh have been enrolled in 2017.”
The CM directed the officials concerned to ensure that farmers get
payment for their produce in their bank accounts within 24 hours of
procurement.
“All the mandis should remain open during the paddy procurement
process in the state for smooth management of the same”, the CM added.
This year, around 17.90 lakh tonnes of paddy worth Rs 2,736 crore has
been procured and an amount of Rs 2,356.75 crore have so far been
transferred to the farmers’ bank accounts, official sources informed.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi and
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Rajesh Verma.
