Chhattisgarh Assembly polls: Cabinet clears proposal to procure more paddy

Ahead of the Assembly elections, the Chhattisgarh Cabinet on Tuesday passed a proposal to procure more paddy from farmers. The state government will now buy 2,000 kg of paddy per acre. Previously, it bought 1,500 kg of paddy per acre.

In a statement, the Congress party said that the kharif paddy will be purchased from farmers at the support price from November 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024 and the payment will be made in cash.

Paddy procurement at Rs 2,500 per quintal was one of the Congress’s major poll promises in 2018, and the "Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana" was introduced to fulfill the promise. Presently, a rice farmer gets Rs 2,640 per quintal for paddy.

CM Baghel said that his government will give Rs 2,800 per quintal of paddy and buy 2,0000 kg from November 1.

During a Congress event in Bilaspur on Monday, Rural Development Minister Ravindra Choubey said, “Under the Rajiv Gandhi Nyay Yojana, we procured paddy at Rs 2,640 per quintal and next year, it will be Rs 2,800 per quintal. If we come to power, I promise that the Congress government will procure paddy from farmers at Rs 3,000 (per quintal). In the second year, it will be Rs 3,400 and after three years, it will be Rs 3,600.”

Choubey said that the figures are inclusive of the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the central government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution Piyush Goyal accused the Congress of lying to the people over paddy procurement.

Goyal said, “In a letter written to me by CM Baghel, a demand was made to increase the quota of rice deposited under the central pool by the state from 6.1 million metric tonnes (LMT) to 8.65 million MT in 2023-24. But in 2022-23, the state government deposited 61 LMT rice to the FCI under the scheme, but it has so far supplied just 5.3 million metric tonnes. They were unable to complete the quota for the previous year. So what is the point of increasing the quota this year?"

The BJP said that it is the central government that procures paddy from the state and the Congress is just taking credit for it.

In reply to these allegations, the Congress said that it is the state government’s Rajiv Gandhi Nyay Yojana that gives input subsidy to farmers for growing paddy and that the scheme has benefitted rice farmers in the state.