Jharkhand CM asks Food Dept to gear up for paddy procurement

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today asked the Food Department to gear up for purchase of paddy, a day after announcing bonus to farmers.
Reviewing the work of the Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Department, Das asked officials to ensure that grains are distributed to tribal families.
He called upon farmers who do not have bank accounts to open one under Jan Dhan Yojana to facilitate cashless transaction.
The biometric mode, he said, could be difficult for lepers and labourers working in quarry, so iris mode could be the system to deliver grains to them.
He also asked the department to increase facilities for labourers working in godowns, like providing restrooms and drinking water and also see if they can be covered under group insurance.

Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Minister Saryu Roy stressed the need for modern godowns.

The Kadru-based godown in Ranchi is being modernised, he added.
The chief minister directed the department to open godowns in districts, depending upon the requirement and suggested studying the food distribution system of Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu.
Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma, Development Commissioner Amit Khare and department Secretary Vinay Kumar Choubey were present at the meeting.
Jharkhand is expecting 4 lakh metric tonnes of paddy following a good monsoon.
This was informed in a review meeting of the agriculture department, chaired by the Chief Minister yesterday.