The Chhattisgarh Government has requested the Centre not to implement biometric system in paddy purchase this Kharif season as it may cause inconvenience for the farmers of remote and inaccessible areas.
The Union government has made biometric system mandatory for food grain procurement from Kharif marketing year 2023-24.
Chhattisgarh said it will be difficult to implement this system in the forest and hilly areas. Accordingly, farmers will face difficulty in selling paddy and maize at the support price.
Topeshwar Verma, Secretary, Food Department, has written to the Food Secretary, New Delhi, mentioning the problems that will arise from the biometric system.
Verma particularly mentioned Bastar and Surguja as areas that lacked Internet connectivity.
He said farmers are registered before the start of paddy procurement. This includes information such as the farmer's Aadhar number and verification of land area through ‘Bhuiyan’ software.
Also, the payment for paddy procurement is transferred online into bank accounts.
The system of paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh is completely transparent and the best in the country, he said.