Bhubaneswar: Amid allegations of distress paddy sales by farmers, a joint team of quality control officers from Orissa and the Centre will make an assessment of paddy quality to help farmers avail the benefits of price support.
Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Surya Narayan Patro said Tuesday that the Centre has agreed to a proposal of the state government regarding this.
The minister said that Food Secretary VV Yadav had informed this to the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and the ministry had agreed to send its team.
He said the visit of the Central team will help in relaxing FAQ norms for the state at the earliest to prevent distress sales and help farmers access price support
benefits.
In his letter sent December 14, the food secretary said that 119 blocks in 19 districts of the state were affected by the unseasonal cyclone.
He said subsequently a team of quality control officers of FCI and the state government assessed paddy quality and it was found the paddy did not conform to FAQ norms as refractions under “damaged, discolored, sprouted and weevilled” grains had increased to 23.5 per cent against the uniform specification of five per cent fixed by the Centre in the 2017-18 Kharif season.
After the unseasonal rains reports of distress paddy sales are pouring in from several districts.
The issue had also created a storm in the Assembly when Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra alleged that farmers were not getting MSP and at many places mandis have not opened.
“In many places in the name of FAQ, procurement agencies were deducting 5 to 6 kg paddy per quintal,” Mishra alleged, and asked the government to fix a price for non-FAQ paddy and stop deducting 5 to 6 kg paddy per quintal from farmers.
Meanwhile, the minister said the date of visit of the quality control officers from the Centre has not been confirmed.
PNN
