The Odisha government has raised objections to non-lifting of surplus parboiled rice from the State due to restrictions imposed by the Department of Food and Public Distribution, saying it would affect paddy procurement from 10 lakh farmers.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi bringing to his notice that Odisha’s paddy procurement could be adversely affected due to such restrictions.
“Odisha became a Decentralized Procurement (DCP) State in the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2003-04. Since then the State has been undertaking minimum support price operations for procurement of paddy in decentralized mode. Such Decentralized Procurement has improved the outreach of MSP support to paddy growers,” Mr. Patnaik mentioned in his letter.
‘Delivered to FCI’
“The rice milled from the paddy so procured is being used under the National Food Security Act and other welfare schemes of Central government and the surplus rice is being delivered to the Food Corporation of India (FCI),” he said.
Odisha Chief Minister informed that: “during the KMS 2020-21, around 14 lakh farmers have sold 77.33 lakh MT of paddy (equivalent to 52.35 MT of rice) to the State Government and MSP dues of about ₹14,444 crores have been transferred to the bank accounts of the farmers within 24 to 48 hours of purchase of paddy.”
“In connection with paddy procurement, it is pertinent to mention here that on August 31, the Centre intimated that for the next KMS no surplus parboiled rice shall be accepted from Odisha by the FCI,” he said.
According to State government, in upcoming KMS 2021-22, Odisha is estimated to procure 52 lakh MT of rice.
“The State’s own requirement of rice under all the schemes is about 24 lakh MT. This goes to indicate that the State will have a surplus of 28 lakh MT of rice out of which only 4 lakh MT will be raw rice. That leaves the State with a balance of 24 lakh MT of parboiled rice for evacuation by FCI. But the latest decision of DFPD has put a question mark on lifting of the said surplus rice from the State,” Mr. Patnaik said.
