Bhubaneswar: The state government, Monday, asked the Collectors of eight bordering districts to take steps for prevention of unauthorised entry of paddy from Chhattisgarh to Odisha.
Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare (FS&CW) Additional Secretary Bijay Kumar Prusty has written to the Collectors of Bargarh, Sambalpur, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh and Nabarangpur in this regard.
“There is a possibility that some unscrupulous traders/persons will try to push paddy procured from Chhattisgarh into procurement system in your districts. Ensure that unauthorised paddy sourced from the neighboring state does not enter the premises of procuring societies/groups in your district,” Prusty wrote to the Collectors of the districts concerned.
The procurement of paddy for Kharif crop has started in these eight districts from the second week of November. Paddy will be procured from registered farmers as per tokens issued in their favour.
District level squads and sub-divisional squads will be formed and the units will conduct periodic checks in the field to keep an eye on unscrupulous traders bringing paddy from neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
If any such activity comes to the fore, the Collectors have been asked to take action against the traders, millers and persons engaged in the illegal activities.
The government has instructed the district Collectors to ensure that paddy procured by authorised societies/groups is only from genuine registered farmers and the benefit of MSP (minimum support price) for the paddy does not go to unauthorised entities under any circumstances.
Earlier in the day, FS&CW Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said the paddy procurement is going on smoothly and there is no issue.
“Those farmers who have registered themselves are being issued tokens in alphabetical order. There is no flaw in the system. Every farmer will get a chance to sell his/her paddy like last year,” he said.
This year, expecting a bumper crop, the state government has enhanced the paddy procurement target to 71 lakh metric tonne. Around 46,600 tonnes of paddy have been already procured till Monday.