2.4 million paddy farmers in Chhattisgarh to get Rs 13,000 crore: CM

The Chhattisgarh government will on March 12 transfer Rs 13,000 crore to accounts of 2.4 million farmers that was due against the paddy they sold, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has said.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has promised to pay Rs 3,100 for a quintal of paddy procured during the kharif marketing season 2023-24. Since the amount is higher than the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the central government for the season, the BJP decided to pay the difference amount.

While the MSP for paddy (common) was fixed at Rs 2,183 per quintal, it is Rs 2,203 for a quintal for grade A paddy. The state government has to pay an additional amount of Rs 917 to the farmers for common grade paddy and Rs 897 for paddy grade A.

The nodal agency for the paddy procurement, Chhattisgarh Marketing Federation, procured paddy from November 1 to February 4 for this season. The farmers were paid the MSP as fixed by the central government. The state also removed the cap of 15 quintals per acre and purchased 21 quintal paddy per acre from the farmers.

Given the good yield and the higher rate, the procurement centres registered record arrivals of 14.7 million tonnes of paddy in the current season against the target of 13 million. In the last season, 10.07 million tonnes of paddy were purchased from the farmers.

The chief minister said the disbursement of additional amount to the farmers was part of Modi Ki Guarantee for Chhattisgarh. The difference amount would be transferred at a function in which Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda would be present, he added.