Paddy procurement from December 1 in Chhattisgarh

Paddy procurement in the rice-bowl of the country would start from December 1, a month behind the normal schedule.

The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting held on Saturday. The state government has decided to start paddy procurement from December 1. Normally, the procurement for the given kharif marketing season, in Chhattisgarh, starts in the first week of November. The delay in monsoon and cropping could be the possible reasons for delay.

The state government has put a cap on quantity that has sparked off debate with opposition Congress swinging into action. "This year, the state government would be purchasing 10 quintals of paddy behind every acre from the farmers," a state government spokesperson, citing cabinet decision, said.

Earlier, the government had been procuring 20 t0 28 quintals of paddy per acre from the farmers at the minimum support price (MSP). The cap is learnt to check the paddy flow as the state government had purchased about 8 million tonnes of paddy in the kharif marketing season 2013-14.

The BJP-led Chhattisgarh government had announced a bonus of Rs 300 for a quintal of paddy that it would purchase from the farmers. Last year, the state exchequer had to bear an additional burden of Rs 2,400 crore for paying bonus to the farmers. The quantity of paddy was likely to increase this year that had put the state authorities in a fix.

The Congress state president, Bhupesh Baghel, charged that the BJP government has cheated the farmers. "The state government must explain why it has taken anti-farmer decision when there was no financial constraint," he said. The Congress party would launch a massive agitation till the government purchased every grain from the farmers, he added.

State's food minister Punnulal Mohile defended the decision and said there was sufficient quantity of paddy and rice in stock. "This was the reason why the state government has kept a cap on the procurement," the minister said.