Complete tur procurement on war footing: Maha CM to officers

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today directed officials concerned to complete the procurement of tur in the next five to six days.
Chairing a weekly Cabinet meeting here, the chief minister asked the officials to work in two shifts and complete the procurement of tur on the war footing.
Tur farmers in the state are facing a crisis due to a bumper production and resultant low prices.
He said 40 lakh quintal of tur has been procured so far.
"Farmers who have registered themselves at the (procurement) centres can also sell tur in the next five to six days. In Amravati, the number of procurement centres has been increased since the quantity of tur to be procured is more," the chief minister said, adding that there are 10 weighing scales at each procurement centre.

He said that additional man-power is also being provided for the exercise.

The CM also directed district collectors to acquire private warehouses to store the procured tur.
"In 2016-17, the state saw a record sowing of tur on the area of 15.33 lakh hectares. The production was five times more than the previous year. Due to reduced market price of tur, government started procurement at 323 centres," he said.
Till April 22, 40 lakh quintal tur worth Rs 1839 crore was purchased at Rs 5050, including bonus of Rs 425, from 2,58,341 farmers.
He said the market price of tur stood at Rs 4150.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde recently demanded scrapping of various conditions for procurement of tur in the state, alleging that only 20 per cent of the produce has been procured so far.