ARINDAM GANGULY, OP
Bhubaneswar: Paddy procurement for Kharif season will start from Bargarh and Sambalpur November 20 and November 22 respectively, said an official Sunday. It was decided at an inter-ministerial review meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo. The meeting noted that preparations for paddy procurement have reached the final stage. Deo emphasised on expediting the process of paddy procurement as the dates approaching and stopping all kinds of irregularities including brokering, katni chhatni and providing fair price to the farmers for their crops. An additional input assistance of Rs 800 per quintal with the minimum support price for paddy will be provided for the first time.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi will launch the programme at Sohela of Bargarh district December 8. All the farmers who have sold paddy in the mandies till December 7 will get additional input assistance of Rs 800 per quintal, informed the official. Automatic grain analyzer will be used for grain quality testing. These automatic grain analyzer machines have already been provided for installation in 200 large PPCs with a paddy collection capacity of more than 4000 metric tons. Moisture testing machine has also been arranged along with it. Deo advised the millers to be present in the mandi to stop the Katni Chhatni. Each district will have a control room system for the convenience of farmers. The entire process will be done transparently. For this, nodal officer, supervisor has been appointed at Mandis. Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra, and Cooperation Minister Pradeep Bal Samanta were present in the high level meeting.
