Bhubaneswar: Amid reports of irregularity in paddy procurement, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday directed Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi to take stock of the ongoing procurement process every 15 days.
Patnaik, who held a video conference with district collectors in this regard directed them to ensure timely participation of registered farmers in the procurement process to ensure immediate payment to them.
The chief minister also asked concerned officials and collectors to ensure distribution of special aid to farmers affected by draught in 2015-16 by December 17. According to officials, of 2.28lakh affected farmers 2.13 lakh were provided `72crore assistance.
Meanwhile, food supplies and consumer welfare minister Sanjay Das Burma who held a review meeting with the food supplies and cooperative department officials earlier in the day, said the state government has procured 3.58 lakh tonne paddy from 53,000 farmers so far. He said the procurement is underway in 67 blocks of nine districts through 255 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS).
The total value of procured paddy is pegged at `525crore, he said, adding, the state has already paid `409 crore to farmers online.
As claimed by the state government earlier, the food minister said demonetisation and subsequent RBI instructions to district central cooperative banks not to facilitate exchange, withdraw or deposit money has affected farmers and paddy collection.
The state government has set a paddy procurement target of 44 lakh tonne (30 lakh tone in terms of rice) during KMS 2016-17. While kharif paddy would be procured between November 2016 and March 2017, rabi paddy would be procured between May and June, 2017.
The farmers’ wing of the state Congress has, meanwhile, criticised the state government for not providing minimum support price (MSP) on paddy to the farmers.
The Chief Minister also reviewed the disbursement of agriculture crop insurance to farmers and asked officials to distribute the amounts by December 20. It was said in the meeting that `1,776crore will be distributed as crop insurance to 11.61lakh farmers affected by drought during Kharif 2015.
So far government has transferred `1,124 crore to bank accounts of 7lakh farmers towards agriculture crop insurance.
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