The Chhattisgarh government on Thursday said it was ready to extend the time limit for paddy procurement due to insufficient gunny bags supplied by the Union government and non-deposit of rice in the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns.
A ministerial sub-committee consisting of Ministers Ravindra Choubey (Agriculture), Amarjeet Bhagat (Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection), Mohammed Akbar (Forest), Dr Prem Sai Tekam (Cooperative), Shiv Kumar Dahariya (Urban Administration) and Umesh Patel (Higher Education) met representatives of farmers at Mantralaya and held discussions over the current scenario, a press release said.
“Paddy procurement is happening well in the state and about 11.50 lakh registered farmers have already sold 50 lakh tonnes paddy to the government,” Minister Choubey said.
Till date the Central government has not issued permission for depositing rice in FCI’s godowns due to which custom milling has halted. If the situation persists, then paddy procurement will be affected, Choubey told the farmers.
He said Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had talked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over phone regarding depositing rice in FCI godowns.
The Centre had provided in principle approval to purchase 60 lakh tonnes rice from Chhattisgarh but has not given permission to deposit it with FCI, Choubey said.
Due to this, the gunny bags are not recycled leading to their shortage. Since custom milling has stopped, paddy stock at procurement centres is surplus. The government is trying to arrange more jute bags on its own, the Minister added.
The farmers said that they will hand over memorandums to the Governor for the Union government. They will also request MPs from their regions to urge the Centre for cooperation over the matter.