post news network
Bhubaneswar, Sept 10: For the second time, the state government has extended the deadline for online registration of farmers till September 17 to participate in the kharif paddy procurement process.
Earlier, the last date for the registration was extended till September 10 from August 31. Speaking to reporters here Tuesday, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said, “The deadline for the online registration of farmers under Paddy Procurement Automation System (P-PAS) for purchase of the surplus crop during the 2019-20 kharif marketing season has been extended till September 17.”
The minister said the farmers can go to primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) or Pani Panchayats to complete their registrations. The procurement process will begin November 1, he added.
Nearly 10 lakh farmers have so far been listed in the system. Last year, over 12.5 lakh farmers had participated in the paddy procurement process.
“This year, we are again asking for fresh registration of farmers with all documents and Aadhaar card has been made mandatory to participate in the process. That’s why, the deadlines was extended twice this year,” said an official of the department.
Earlier, the farmers, who had registered in the year 2014-15, were just renewing their names till last year, to participate in the paddy procurement process. As the data has run for four year, the government has decided to go for fresh registration this year to make the process more transparent, the official added.