BHUBANESWAR: Deputy chief minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo on Monday met Union minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi and sought his intervention for early evacuation of rice from the state by Food Corporation of India (FCI).
The state is facing a problem of surplus rice stock to the tune of 12 lakh tonne. Singh Deo accompanied by 10 MPs met Joshi and apprised him about the storage constraints of the state.
He told Joshi that the state has procured a record quantity of over 92.64 lakh tonne of paddy during 2024-25 kharif marketing season, which is equivalent to 62,62 lakh tonne of rice. It is sitting over a surplus of 12 lakh tonne after meeting its internal consumption. There is an urgent need for evacuation of the surplus rice by FCI to create space for custom milled rice, he stressed.
He also reminded Joshi about the letter written by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to him highlighting the problem faced by the state due to slow pace of transportation of rice from the state by the central agency. Minister of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Krushna Chandra Patra had also taken up the issue with Joshi during his recent visit to the national capital. Patra had further requested release of the pending food subsidies dues of the state.
The Union minister has assured the delegation to resolve the issue. MPs including, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Malvika Devi, Pratap Sarangi, Bhartuhari Mahtab, Pradeep Purohit, Sukanta Panigrahi, Anita Subhadarshini, Ananta Charan Nayak, Bhibhu Prasad Tarai and Rabindra Narayan Behara were part of the delegation.