BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday directed district collectors to ensure that paddy procurement is done in the most efficient, transparent and corruption-free manner.
Taking a review on the ongoing paddy procurement, mostly in western Odisha districts, the chief minister said his government completed six months on the day and has proved to be a government of the common people and farmers.
“We have successfully implemented several schemes in the past six months, including the Subhadra scheme for women’s empowerment. We have also launched CM-Kisan on the line of PM-Kisan and keeping with our promise of disbursement of input assistance of Rs 800 per quintal paddy over and above the minimum support price starting from Bargarh district from December 8. This will benefit more than 17 lakh farmers. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that farmers do not face any difficulties in selling their paddy under price support system,” Majhi told collectors through virtual mode.
The chief minister was informed that paddy procurement has begun in nine districts of Bargarh, Sambalpur, Balangir, Subarnapur, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Jharsuguda, Nabarangpur and Koraput. Of the registered farmers, 37,079 farmers in the nine districts have sold 1,81,196 tonne of paddy as on date and have received Rs 323.73 crore as minimum support price and Rs 112.61 crore as input assistance. An additional Rs 93 crore MSP and Rs 32.35 crore input assistance will be disbursed within the next 48 hours.
Majhi emphasised the need to expedite the paddy procurement process and advised primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) to activate paddy purchase committees for creating awareness among farmers.
He directed officials concerned to promptly address farmers’ grievances and keep a close watch on middlemen to prevent exploitation of farmers. This will help build trust in the system. Issues pertaining to token systems, tagging systems, miller coordination and other related issues were also discussed.
He advised district collectors to emulate Kalahandi district administration which has provided facilities like canteens, drinking water and toilets near mandis for the convenience of the farmers.
Similarly, Bargarh district administration has implemented a monitoring system for paddy procurement and sending live feed to the central control room in Bhubaneswar. The chief minister advised other districts to replicate these initiatives.
The meeting was attended by deputy chief ministers KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, Revenue minister Suresh Pujari, Panchayati Raj minister Rabi Narayan Naik and Cooperation minister Pradeep Bal Samanta among others.