MLAs express concern over “mismanagement” in paddy procurement

The issue was raised by senior BJD MLA and former
minister Bhupinder Singh from Kalahandi district, who said the
farmers faced difficulties in selling their paddy.

“The farmers in my constituency have received tokens
very late for paddy procurement. Some farmers want to sell
surplus paddy, but are not getting the opportunity,” he said.

Singh also said as the agents of the millers turn up
late at the mandis, the farmers find it difficult to sell
their produce. Since this year”s paddy production is good, the
government should take steps for paddy procurement
effectively.

BJD member and deputy government whip Rohit Pujari
said the farmers face difficulty in mandis due to the token
system mandatory to sale paddy.

BJD MLA Kishore Kumar Mohanty also expressed concern
about the “mismanagement” in paddy procurement and urged the
government to take adequate measures in this regard and
mitigate the suffering of the agrarian community.

BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra said although the concerned
minister and the secretary of the department have been
directed to take adequate measures to sort out the problem,
nothing has been done so far in this regard.

“The government introduced the token system forcibly
which is causing difficulty for the farmers,” Mishra said,
adding that heaps of paddy at all the mandis speaks about the
“mismanagement”.

Leader of the Opposition Pradipta Kumar Nayak of BJP
blamed the state government for the “miseries” of farmers. He
said a huge quantity of paddy have been damaged due to lack of
storing facilities in mandis.

Congress legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra
said farmers face difficulty as there is no mechanism to know
the quality of paddy they bring to mandis for sale.

Speaker S N Patro in a ruling asked the Food Supplies
and Consumer Welfare minister to take up the matter with MLAs
and make a statement in the House on the alleged mismanagement
in paddy procurement.

Minister R P Swain, however, said that the state
government has so far purchased 43 lakh metric tonne of paddy.

“We have made arrangement to extend the last date for
facilitating farmers to sell their surplus paddy,” the
minister said. PTI AAM
RG RG

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI