BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Friday announced the food and procurement policy for 2023-24 and fixed paddy procurement target of 79 lakh tonne for the kharif marketing season of 2023-24.A proposal in this regard was approved by the state cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on the day. The target will be around 54 lakh tonne in terms of rice.
Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, chief secretary PK Jena and development commissioner Anu Garg told mediapersons that for kharif, the target will be 65 lakh tonne. Paddy procurement for rabi has been fixed at 14 lakh tonne.
The minister said there will be no bar on procurement of higher quality paddy if more stock is brought to the mandis by registered farmers. For 2022-23 kharif season, 79.16 lakh tonne paddy was procured. He said all registered and eligible farmers will be intimated in advance by SMS to their mobile phones regarding date of sale of paddy and the quantity to be sold.
Besides, the cabinet approved Location Accessible Multi-modal Initiative (LAccMI) scheme to ensure sustainable, affordable and safe transportation of passengers and commodities across the state. The chief secretary said under the scheme bus network planning has been undertaken in a hierarchical manner.
While block connectivity will facilitate connectivity between panchayats and their respective block headquarters, district connectivity will link block headquarters with district headquarters and Jagannath Express will connect district headquarters with Bhubaneswar or Puri. LAccMl Express will facilitate connectivity between district HQs and major cities.
The project cost has been estimated at approximately Rs 3,178 crore in the first three years of the bus operation from 2023-24 to 2025-26. The scheme would be implemented in a phased manner. Around 1,000 buses would be deployed under the scheme for 10 years.
The cabinet approved a proposal to abolish all 35 toll gates on Works and Rural Development department roads which are being operated by Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation (OBCC). Besides, the proposal to restructure and expand Odisha Engineering Service and Odisha Diploma Engineering Service in view of increase in developmental work was approved. The chief secretary said 1,273 new posts will be created. While the OES cadre strength will increase from 642 to 1,011, the Odisha Diploma Service cadre strength will go up from 944 to 1,848.
Proposals to bring new laws for upgrading National Institute of Science and Technology, Berhampur and Silicon Institute of Technology into self-financed, private, non-affiliating unitary universities were also approved.