Chhattisgarh Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Protection Minister Amarjeet Bhagat on Tuesday held a review meeting for Kharif season 2020-21 for custom milling of rice procured at minimum support price and to resolve the issue of surplus paddy.
The Minister said the Central government had given in principle approval for procurement of 60 lakh tonnes of rice from Chhattisgarh but till date no order has been issued, an official statement said.
At present permission has been given to procure 24 lakh tonnes. The Central government was urged to increase the present quota to 40 lakh tonnes but the request was pending.
Already in the current year, around 93 lakh tonnes of paddy have been procured. If the hike is not permitted, 21 lakh tonnes will be the balance, leading to a situation of surplus. This has to be resolved to save the stored paddy from damage.
The Minister said the Chhattisgarh government had also urged the Central government and FCI to permit the procurement of rice in old gunny sacks.
The Minister directed the officials to expedite the custom milling and resolve the complaints of farmers. A total of 52.91 lakh tonnes of paddy have been lifted from procurement centres.
