Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that his government was committed to procuring all paddy produce from the farmers on minimum support price (MSP).
He directed all the district magistrates to carry out the process smoothly and ensure that the farmers did not face problems at the purchase centres.
“The district magistrates will be held responsible if any laxity is found in the procurement process,” the chief minister said in a statement issued in Lucknow on Tuesday.
So far, the state government has procured more than one lakh tons of paddy in 2020 as compared to 10,000 metric tons of paddy purchased in the corresponding period last year.
To ensure that the purchase process is carried out smoothly, the government has increased the number of purchase centres to 4,000 from the earlier 3,000.
The chief minister also asked the officials to ensure that payment for paddy was transferred in the accounts of the farmers within 72 hours.
Paddy purchase in the state started from October 1 and the support price for common (variety) of paddy was fixed at Rs 1,868 per quintal and Rs 1,888 per quintal for Grade-A paddy.
Meanwhile, to help the farmers sell paddy at the minimum support price, the government has approved a proposal to provide advance loans to purchasing agencies.
Uttar Pradesh State Food and Essential Commodities Corporation will avail loans up to Rs 3,000 crore from the nationalised banks for purchase of paddy.