Chief Minister Raman Singh has asked the Centre to approve funds for construction of warehouses of at least 15 lakh metric tonnes capacity, to ensure safe storage of paddy procured in the State.
Singh also demanded that that the Centre should not make any amendments in decentralised paddy procurement scheme or in the scheme of paddy procurement on support price, without taking the consent of the states.Singh made the demands during his meeting at his residence with Union Minister of Food, PDS and Consumer Affairs Ramvilas Paswan.
The Chief Minister handed over two memorandums to Paswan pertaining to the demands raised by Chhattisgarh.Chief Minister said that after procurement of paddy at support price and on announcement of bonus by the State Government, the entire stock of paddy/rice procured in the State should be validated in the Central pool and the actual expenses on the same should be borne by Central Government itself.
The Centre should also accord permission to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to open more procurement centres in Chhattisgarh and to recruit sufficient number of technical staff to expedite the procurement process, Singh demanded.Minister Paswan offered in-principle approval to all the issues raised by the Chief Minister and said that he would convey the demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At the meeting, Paswan praised the public distribution system (PDS) and computerised paddy procurement system of the Chhattisgarh Government.The Chief Minister told Paswan that at the time of formation of Chhattisgarh the cooperative societies of Chhattisgarh used to procure not more than 5 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, but in the last few years the Government has increased this figure to nearly 80 lakh tonnes.
Every year about 70-80 lakh tons of paddy is procured in the State. The Chhattisgarh Government had procured paddy from the farmers at support price in year 2012-13 and had distributed bonus on the same at the rate Rs270 per quintal, he said. This year the State Government has the target of distributing bonus at the rate of Rs300 per quintal. As paddy procurement has touched a new height in State this year, Chhattisgarh needs more warehouses for safe storage of the paddy procured, Singh said.
The Chief Minister told Paswan that despite utilising the total milling capacity of the State, every year about 15 lakh tonnes of paddy remains in the open space and has to be covered with cap covers during rains. Therefore there is constant fear of rains damaging the grains. Singh said that on approval of funds from the Central Government, the Chhattisgarh Government can complete the construction of warehouses within the duration of one year.
He said that the State Government has issued instructions to all the Collectors that in case land for warehouse construction is demanded, they should allot land with highest priority to the FCI. Singh also told the Union Minister that new godowns for storage of food grains are being constructed under the Central Government’s ‘PIG Scheme.’ Under this scheme, the required storage capacity of warehouses is estimated on the basis of the quantity of rice and wheat procured during each kharif and rabi season.
The State Government is of the opinion that instead of rice, the quantity of paddy procured in any paddy-producing State should be considered as the basis for estimation of storage capacity of the warehouses, he said. Singh requested Paswan to approve the proposal of the State Government as soon as possible.
The Chief Minister also told Paswan that his Ministry had issued a letter on June 12, 2014, with instructions to the State governments that from upcoming kharif season i.e. from 2014-15, if any of the State governments announces bonus on paddy procurement then the state government itself would have to redress the additional stock of paddy/rice procured. It is also stated in the letter that the stock of rice required for PDS shall be validated in Central pool by the Central government and subsidy would be provided on this particular quality of rice only. In this case, the state government would have to bear the loss incurred due to procurement of addition rice in State.
The Chief Minister said that the State government announces bonus on paddy procurement so as to encourage farmers to produce sufficient quantity of paddy. Presently, the State government is paying bonus to farmers on paddy procured by cooperative societies at support price, from its own resources. Paddy and rice procurement in the state is underway as per the MoU signed between the State Government and the Central Government under the decentralized paddy procurement scheme.
This MoU has no provision of restricting validation of the additional stock of paddy/rice, which is procured by the state government from farmers after announcement of bonus on the same, in Central pool. Paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh is a major source of livelihood for farmers and also the basis of the state’s economy, he said.
At the meeting, Food Minister Punnulal Mohle, FCI Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) C Vishwanath, Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, Joint Secretary of Union Ministry of Food, Deepak Kumar, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Aman Kumar Singh, Food Secretary of State Government Vikassheel and other senior officials were also present.