Chhattisgarh lifts ban on paddy purchase from neighbouring state

Paddy from the neighbouring states would power state-run Krishi Upaj Mandi in Chhattisgarh to overcome from serious financial crises.

The state government had lifted the ban imposed on the purchase of paddy transported from the neighbouring states. “Now, any trader could transport paddy from any state and sell in Chhattisgarh,” Principal Secretary with the food department Vivek Dhand said.

The government authorities however did not mention as to how long the order would remain effective. Earlier, ban was imposed on the purchase of paddy coming from other states as the authorities feared that “outsiders” would trade for a better gain as government was paying a bonus of Rs 270 on a quintal of paddy procured at Minimum Support Price (MSP) in the state.

Since the procurement of paddy in the state-run societies had stopped, the farmers had to sell their produce in the Krishi Upaj Mandi (where farmers could sell their crops). The state government is now alluring the farmers and traders from other states to come with the produce and sell in the state.

The move is aimed to improve the deteriorating financial condition of Mandis in the state. “There is no other logic for purchasing paddy from other states than to induce transactions in the Mandis,” said Dr Sanket Thakur, director of AgriCon—a non-government organization working in the field of agriculture.

The state government admitted that the Mandis in the state were in a poor shape. “The Mandis are running under heavy losses and hardly 25 per cent of paddy is being sold there after the government started procurement at MSP through the village-level societies,” state’s agriculture minister Chandrashekhar Sahu told Business Standard. Instead of coming to the mandis, farmers preferred to sell their produce in the societies. This had resulted in heavy financial loss to the mandis in the commission earned on transaction. Besides, labourers working in the site are left with no job while the mandi authorities had to arrange the establishment and other costs.