Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 9:

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today reviewed the Kharif paddy procurement in the state and asked Food, Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department to hold meetings of (District Level Procurement Committee) as soon as possible and start procurement in other districts. Naveen Secretariat Review meeting

“Procurement has already started in 110 societies across seven districts of the state. So far, 1,66,000 MT paddy have been collected from 20,658 farmers. The sellers have been paid Rs 234.16 crore for their produce. DLPC (District Level Procurement Committees) have also been formed in the remaining districts and procurement would soon begin in those districts soon,” said Food, Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department Minister Sanjay Das Burma speaking to reporters after the review meeting.

Notably, the government on November 4 announced that it has set a procurement target of 45 lakh MT paddy this year. As per the plan, procurement will be done through 3000 paddy procurement centres across the state. Overall, Rs 6,500 crore would be spent on the procurement this year and the money will be transferred using 100 additional Paddy Procurement Automation Systems (P-PAS).

Chief Minister Patnaik today also reviewed the progress of distribution of digital ration cards as the second phase NFSA (National Food Security Act) has been scheduled to be implemented across remaining 16 districts of the state starting December 20. He directed the officials to eliminate entries of undeserving beneficiaries from the rolls, add missing yet deserving beneficiaries and take strong action against the officials responsible for the goof-ups.