BHUBANESWAR: A delegation of BJD MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha held a meeting with Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal through video-conference on Thursday to demand early resolution to the stalemate over parboiled rice procurement and pending subsidy release.
Led by BJD Parliamentary Party leader in Lok Sabha Pinaki Mishra, the delegation discussed the pending subsidy claims of Rs 6,039 crore payable to Odisha by the Centre with the Union Minister.
Goyal assured that the pending subsidy claims would be transferred at the earliest and advised senior officers present in the meeting to take early steps in this regard.
The delegation further apprised the Minister about the recent letter by the FCI to Odisha government limiting the delivery of parboiled rice from the State and stopping it entirely for the rabi season.
About 30 lakh tonne of rice worth about Rs 7,350 crore would remain unlifted if not evacuated by the FCI.
The Minister assured that there would not be any immediate stoppage of procurement of rice from Odisha despite the FCI letter.
For the rabi season, there would be a consultation meeting in mid-February between the FCI and Odisha government officials to work out a solution.
BJD sources maintained that the Union Minister assured all support for the early resolution of these two issues. Besides Mishra, the BJD delegation comprised former union minister Chandrasekhar Sahu, Sasmit Patra, N Bhaskar Rao, Sarmistha Sethi, and Anubhav Mohanty.