Raipur: On instructions of the CM, authorities from the food department have procured nearly 88.18 LMT paddy for custom milling. So far, 25.61 LMT has been deposited in the central pool, 14.01 LMT in the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and 11.60 LMT in the Civil Supplies Corporation. According to sources, the state would deposit 61.65 LMT Arva rice in the central pool this year.
As per the information given by Food Secretary Topeshwar Verma, 69.50 LMT paddy was procured through DO and 23.37 LMT was lifted through DO.
CG this year procured a record 97.97 lakh metric ton (LMT) of paddy this year from around 22 lakh farmers during the current Kharif season. This has been the highest procurement recorded by the state since 2000. Around 92 LMT was procured from the farmers under the minimum support price scheme.
The paddy procurement process began on December 1 last year and continued until February 7. A week’s extension offered respite to farmers who couldn’t sell their produce due to unseasonal rains. Nearly, 24 lakh farmers had registered to sell paddy at the minimum support price.
The Baghel govt in January this year signed an MoU with Government of India, State Government and Food Cooperation of India in both DCP and non – DCP States for procurement of paddy from farmers under the central pool. As per Clause No.3 of MoU of DCP State, “in the situation of State giving any bonus/ financial incentive in direct or indirect form, over and above MSP, if the overall procurement of the State is in excess of the total allocation of the State made by the Government of India under TPDS/ OWS, such excess quantity shall be treated to be outside the Central Pool”.