Sonepur: Though the token system for paddy procurement has been opposed by farmers in the past, the district level procurement committee has decided to continue with it in the current kharif season.
Apart from 62 PACSs, 29 SHGs will also be engaged in paddy procurement, a report said. The committee has set a target to procure 36 lakh quintals of paddy in the district in the current season.
The procurement will start from December 6. For conducting the process smoothly, the committee has decided to procure paddy six days a week from 8.00am till 1.00pm.
After paddy procurement, the lifting will be carried out the same day to keep the space free for stocking.
At the meeting of the procurement committee, it was decided that farmers will be issued tokens which will be valid for 30 days. The farmers who have registered online will be intimated about procurement status through their mobile numbers.
In the last kharif season, a quintal of general paddy was purchased for Rs 1,868. This season the price has been hiked to Rs 1,940. In the last kharif season, 41 millers of the district and 11 from outside were involved in the paddy procurement programme.
The Civil Supplies Corporation has opened 103 mandis in the district. Till date, 64, 567 farmers have registered their names to sell paddy.
Planning and Coordination and Transport Minister Padmanabh Behera was present at the meeting. He asked officials to ensure that problems that had come up during paddy procurement in the Rabi season should not be repeated again this time.
The minister has directed the nodal officer to visit mandis to sort out bottlenecks. Zilla Parishad chairperson Ushakumari Pradhan said the token system should be simplified for farmers so that they do not face any problems.
In previous years, farmers had complained of weight reduction of paddy on plea of poor quality and bungling of funds for mandi handling and delay in paddy lifting from mandis by the millers.
PNN