Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday telephonically briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over non-receipt of permission for the state’s quota for delivery of rice to the Food Corp of India (FCI) for Kharif marketing year 2020-21.
On basis of the permission from Department of Food and Public Distribution, paddy procured from farmers in the state will be milled as rice and deposited.
Baghel pointed out that due to lack of permission, the paddy got from the farmers has piled up at the procurement centres as it is not being lifted. If the issue is not resolved at the earliest, chances of damage to stored paddy will increase.
It will indirectly impact the livelihood of the registered 21.52 lakh farmers, an official statement said.
Modi assured the Chief Minister to take the necessary steps.
The communication said that for Kharif year 2020-21, the Central government under procurement for central pool had in principle accepted to procure 60 lakh tonnes of rice. After this, Chhattisgarh began procuring paddy from December 1 on minimum support price.
Till date, 47 lakh tonnes of paddy have been procured from 12 lakh farmers.
On Wednesday, it was stated that the Chief Minister had written to the Prime Minister on the issue seeking early approval for delivery of rice to FCI.
The shortage of gunny bags was also highlighted. It has directly impacted the paddy procurement, mainly storage of paddy in procurement centres, causing shortage of space. If the situation continues, it will directly impact paddy procurement in the state.