Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Group of Ministers on Friday decided to increase the paddy procurement target from 65 lakh tonne to 77 lakh tonne for the ongoing kharif season.
The decision was taken in Group of Ministers’ meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo at Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.
With more farmers expressing their willingness to participate in the paddy procurement process due to minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,300 and additional input assistance of Rs 800 per quintal, the Group decided to increase the target.
Presenting the procurement status in the state, Sanjay Kumar Singh, principal secretary, Food Supply and Consumer Welfare department said 46,36,541 tonne of paddy has been procured from 9,77,293 farmers so far.
He said nearly Rs 10,000 crore as MSP and Rs 3,500 crore as input assistance has already been transferred to farmers’ accounts. This year, the interests of the farmers have been given utmost importance during procurement and necessary arrangements have been made at the mandis.
“Keeping the interest of the farmers in view, 3883 nodal officers have been deployed with CCTV system in the mandis. In addition, 217 enforcement squads have been constituted to keep a close watch on outside paddy vehicles,” Singh said.
Various complaints related to the sale of paddy including tokens, input support, MSP to farmers were being resolved expeditiously through the Command Control Centre at Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation. As many as 4,15,267 calls were received and resolved through toll free number 1967, he added.
Singhdeo said the process of paddy procurement has become more transparent and successful as Deputy Chief Ministers, ministers and senior officials have been visiting the district and monitoring the process. He suggested that early steps should be taken for the purchase of paddy in the coming Rabi season.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra, Cooperation Minister Pradeep Bal Samanta, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja and other senior officers were present at the meeting.
