Odisha to seal borders during paddy procurement: Minister

During paddy procurement in Odisha, the borders with the neighbouring states will be sealed to prevent farmers of other states from selling paddy in Odisha.

A decision in this regard has been taken in the paddy procurement meeting held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mohan Majhi. 

Informing about the decisions taken in the meeting, Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari said, “The borders of the state with the neighbouring states where the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy is below Rs 3100 per quintal will be sealed so that farmers from other sides can’t sell their paddy in Odisha.” 

“Earlier, the quality of the paddy was tested twice: once at mandi and then again at the rice mill. This would result in katni chhatni. This time, we have decided that the quality test of paddy will be done at mandi only. The farmers will receive Rs 800 as subsidy inputs from the government, in addition to the MSP,” he informed. 

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Informing about the engagement of officials during paddy procurement, he said, “During procurement, there will be a designated officer at each mandi to ensure smooth procurement. Similarly, we have formed a zone comprising several mandis. There will be a supervising officer in charge of each zone who will visit mandis to look after the process. We will also rope in officers of police administration, district administration, Cooperative department, Supply department, Agriculture department, Revenue department and, if required, the officers of the PR department. Ministers will also be assigned tasks to supervise the procurement. Two to three districts will be under one Minister. Our main objective is that the farmers of Odisha should get the just price of their produce.”

“It has also been decided that the district Collectors will be empowered to take any urgent decision with respect to paddy procurement. It will do away with the inordinate delay while waiting for a decision from Bhubaneswar,” he added. 

Pujari also informed that all the district Collectors, cooperative department, supply department, and agriculture department officials have been directed to modernize the yards at a cost of Rs 550 crore. The yards will have a godown, sitting facility, toilet facility and lodging facility for farmers. 

This time, machines to test the quality of paddy and separate paddy from empty grains will also be provided to the mandis, he informed, adding the government is prepared to buy 80 lakh quintals of paddy this time.