Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly okays payment of Rs 24 bn as paddy bonus

Chhattisgarh has set a target of procuring 7.5 million tonnes in the current kharif marketing season

Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly passed the supplementary budget tabled by the Raman Singh government seeking law makers nod to spend Rs 24 bn for paying bonus to farmers against paddy procurement.

Last week, the state cabinet had approved the proposal to pay a bonus of Rs 300 to farmers for a quintal of paddy that the government would procure. The bonus will be besides the minimum support price (MSP) which the farmers would get for the yields during the Kharif season 2018.

Chhattisgarh, which is among a few states in the country purchasing paddy from the farmers at MSP, has set a target of procuring 7.5 million tonnes in the current kharif marketing season. The procurement will start from November 1. A cap of 15 quintal per acre has been kept to procure paddy at MSP.

With the inclusion of bonus, the farmers in the state will be eligible to get Rs 2070 for a quintal of A-grade paddy that the government will procure. For the common-grade quality, the eligible seller total price will get Rs 2050 per quintal. In all, 1.3 million farmers registered with the primary cooperative societies of the state-run Chhattisgarh Marketing Federation will be the beneficiaries.

The decision of the state government will cost Rs 2400 crore to the state exchequer. Since the amount was more than Rs 100 crore, the state government required legislative assembly approval for spending.

The House late Wednesday evening passed the budget even as the special two-day session concluded.