BHUBANESWAR: With only a week left for online registration of farmers for sale of surplus paddy to the State procurement agencies in the 2019-20 kharif marketing season, Cooperation Department is running against time to complete the process.
As the registration of farmers has been going slow at the primary agriculture cooperative society (PACS) level due to internet problem, the Registrar of Cooperative Societies has issued an advisory to the Divisional Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies and secretaries of District Central Cooperative Banks for taking measures to complete the registration. The Registrar has also asked PACS and LAMPS to function on government holidays till closure of the registration on August 31.
A support team has been deployed at Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC) to handle field call regarding technical issues, clarification of system use, correction of data and addition of new information.
“All users, including common citizens, can avail the service by calling toll free number ‘1967’ from 6 am to 10 pm,” the RSC letter said.
Cooperation and Food Supplies Minister RP Swain, who reviewed the progress of online registration of farmers under paddy procurement automation system (P-PAS) through video conferencing with district-level officers said senior officers have been assigned districts to monitor the progress.
Six senior officers of the Cooperation Department have been assigned five districts each to monitor the registration and report to the Government about daily progress.
Under the decentralised procurement system, the State Government agencies will purchase paddy under price support system from registered farmers as the cost of the paddy is directly sent to the bank account of a farmer.
The State Government has been emphasising on enrolment of sharecroppers, small and marginal farmers to ensure minimum support price for their produce.
Meanwhile, the Cooperation Department has requested the State Government to move the Centre for extending the cut-off date for uploading data of farmers in the PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana) portal to September 15.
The Central Cooperative Banks, which have been financing about 70 pc of the total crop loan in the State, have so far uploaded application of over 13.78 lakh farmers in the PMFBY portal under crop insurance scheme.