Kalahandi admn gears up for paddy procurement

The Pioneer,Nov 6,2007

Bikash Khemka | Bhawanipatna

The District Procurement Committee of Kalahandi under the chairmanship of Collector Pramod Chandra Pattnaik met to decide on the collection of paddy in the current kharif season of the year 2007-08. The meeting set a target of procurement of 4.30 lakh tonnes of paddy and 2.90 lakh tonnes of rice in the year.
The Government agencies like OSCSC, NAFED, MARKFED, TDCC and NCSC have been appointed to purchase paddy at all gram panchayats in the district.
The Government has fixed the minimum support price (MSP) of common paddy at Rs 645 per quintal and Rs 675 per quintal for 'A' grade FAQ standard paddy this year. Any miller, agent or Government agency purchasing paddy below the minimum support price would be punished under the Essential Commodities Act 1995. It was also decided at the meeting that Accounts Payee cheques would be issued to the farmers by the Government agencies, whereas millers would pay a 20 per cent of cash amount or upto Rs 20,000 in cash, with the rest of the payment being made only by Accounts Payee cheques.
The District Procurement Committee also decided to open atleast one paddy procurement centre in each gram panchayat, and the women Self Help Group (SHGs) would be appointed by the Collector for collection of paddy at the procurement centres. The Collector has directed the Regulated Marketing Committees (RMCs) to open mandis from November 6 in the district.