Raipur. A meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee was held today in the Mahanadi Bhawan Ministry under the chairmanship of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Minister Dayal Baghel. In the meeting, brainstorming was done for 100 per cent disposal of estimated 160 to 165 lakh metric tonnes of paddy by the state government. 125 lakh metric tonnes of paddy can be sold in the central and state pools. The tender process for auctioning the remaining 40 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was discussed in depth. It has been agreed upon to start the auction process in the second week of February after paddy procurement. The final decision will be taken in the meeting of the Council of Ministers. The members of the Cabinet sub-committee also gave their suggestions for 100 percent disposal of paddy.
It is noteworthy that about 160 to 165 lakh metric tonnes of paddy is likely to be procured in this Kharif marketing year in the state. In this Kharif marketing year, it will be possible to dispose of about 125 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from the rice deposit target (70 lakh metric tonnes) received from the Government of India in the central pool and the state pool target of Civil Supplies Corporation (14 lakh metric tonnes). About 40 lakh metric tons of paddy will remain to be disposed of. Which has to be resolved by auction.
In the meeting, issues related to various farmer interests including paddy procurement system, lifting of paddy for custom milling, arrangement of adequate gunny bags for farmers, status of tokens were reviewed. In the meeting, instructions were given to speed up the procurement of paddy as well as the lifting of paddy for custom milling.
Cabinet sub-committee members Agriculture Development and Farmers Welfare Minister Ramvichar Netam, Forest and Climate Change and Cooperation Minister Kedar Kashyap and Health and Family Welfare and 20-point Implementation Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal attended the meeting.
In the meeting chaired by Food Minister Dayal Das Baghel, officials told that a record 144.92 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was purchased at support price in Chhattisgarh last year. At present, it is estimated to purchase 160 to 165 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in the coming Kharif marketing year through 2058 cooperative societies and 2739 paddy procurement centers in the state. In the current Kharif marketing year, under the paddy procurement campaign started from 14 November 2024, 113 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been purchased so far. In lieu of paddy purchase, Rs 25 thousand 549 crore has been paid to 21.54 lakh farmers in the state under the bank linking system. Along with paddy procurement, paddy procurement is continuing at a rapid pace for custom milling.
In the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary of Food Department Richa Sharma, Secretary Anbalagan P, Secretary of Agriculture Department Shehla Nigar, Special Secretary of Finance Department Mukesh Bansal, Secretary of Industry Department Rajat Kumar, Commissioner of Cooperative Department Kuldeep Sharma, Director of Food Department Jitendra Kumar were present. Shukla, Markfed Managing Director Ramesh Sharma, Civil Supplies Corporation Managing Director J. Mahobe, Mandi Board Managing Director M.S. Savani, Joint Secretary of Food Department G. S. Shikarwar and concerned senior officers were present.