Paddy will be procured from all farmers by March 31: Patra

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra on Tuesday announced in the Assembly that the State government would procure paddy from all registered farmers by March 31. Patra made this announcement in the Assembly during a discussion on the alleged mismanagement in paddy procurement across the State.

“There is an attempt by Opposition parties to mislead farmers. I assure this House that the government is committed to purchase paddy from all registered farmers by the end of the kharif marketing season on March 31,” the minister said while rejecting the Opposition allegation that the government did not procure paddy from farmers.

Asserting that the State government has been sincerely undertaking the paddy procurement exercise, the minister said the State purchased 92.64 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from 19.73 lakh farmers and disbursed Rs 28,619 crore in 2024-25. This time, over 19.68 lakh farmers have registered for the current season and procurement volume has already crossed 64 lakh metric tonnes so far, he said.

Initiating the debate, Congress member Taraprasad Bahinipati came down heavily on the BJP government and alleged that the farmers were suffering during the previous BJD government, too. “There is a nexus between the millers and the officials for which the farmers are at the receiving end. The minister did not say anything about the volume of paddy lying on mandis. I understand many farmers are waiting to sell their produce and spend nights under the sky,” the Congress lawmaker said.

The BJP MLAs Ashwini Sarangi, Nihar Mahanand and Purna Chandra Sethi attacked the Opposition BJD and the Congress for making paddy procurement a “political issue”. “The Opposition is afraid of losing trust of farmers after the BJP government provided Rs 800 per quintal of paddy as input assistance,” Sarangi said.