BHUBANESWAR : The State government on Monday decided to construct model mandis (paddy purchase centres) in 12 major paddy procurement districts of the State. Reviewing the progress of construction of multi-purpose godowns for primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) and large area multi-purpose societies (LAMPS) at a high-level meeting here, Cooperation Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said that 52 model mandis will be constructed in the first phase.
Major paddy procurement districts such as Bargarh, Balangir, Kalahandi, Deogarh, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Jharsuguda, Nuapada, Koraput, Rayagada, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj will get priority. The proposed model mandis will have all basic facilities for farmers.
The Minister said that the State government has been constructing 128 multi-purpose godowns to meet the storage needs during procurement of paddy and other identified agricultural produce under minimum support price system. He said the regulated market committees (RMCs) are taking care of the cost of the godowns of PACS/LAMPs which have their own land. Two of the godowns will have storage space capacity of 50 tonnes each. The OSAM Board has developed a model design for the godown which will cost Rs 26 lakh each.