Bhubaneswar, Jun 9: BJD National spokesperson Sasmit Patra on Thursday demanded the Union government to increase the MSP for Paddy to Rs. 2930 per quintal as per the unanimous resolution of the Odisha Vidhan Sabha in 2017.
Patra said the increase of MSP of common grade variety of paddy by Rs. 100 per quintal by the Union government on Wednesday from 1940 to Rs. 2040 per quintal for 2022-23 crop year is not sufficient.
Addressing a press conference here the BJD leader said though his party has been demanding for increasing the MSP for paddy by 1.5 times of the cost of production at C2 value as per the Swaminathan Commission Report recommendations but the Centre is not paying any heed to it.
He said in March , 2017, the Odisha Vidhan Sabha had unanimously passed a resolution recommending the central government to increase the MSP for common paddy to Rs 2930 per quintal.
But even after five years of the passage of the resolution and numerous demands in this regard made by the BJD in Parliament as well as in the Odisha Vidhan Sabha, the centre has not implemented it, he said.
Patra also demanded the Union government to immediately release Rs. 10,333 crore food subsidy bill pending with Centre and Rs. 5454.67 crores towards additional interest incurred by Odisha due to delay in release and short release of subsidy by the Centre.
Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation, the designated agency for procurement of paddy , he said, is to receive Rs 7,931.90 crore as provisional subsidy and Rs 2,402.19 crore as advance subsidy taking the total subsidy claim to Rs 10,334 crore by the end of April 2022.
Despite repeated demands by the state government, to release the money to bail out the State paddy procuring agency from financial stress, no action has been taken in this regard by the Centre, Patra alleged.
The BJD leader also demanded the central government to lift the surplus par- boiled rice which would otherwise cause great hardship to the lakhs of farmers of Odisha.
He said most of the rice produced in Odisha is par-boiled rice and Odisha is one of the leading contributors to the PDS rice in the nation.
The Centre’s decision to stop lifting surplus par-boiled rice will adversely affect lakhs of farmers of Odisha particularly Western Odisha farmers, the BJD leader said.
He said in 2021-22 kharif marketing season (KMS), out of 52 lakh tonnes of procurement of rice, the State’s consumption will be about 39 lakh tonnes under public distribution system (PDS) and other welfare schemes.
The State is likely to have a surplus of 13 lakh tonnes of rice which should be lifted immediately for smooth procurement operation.
The State government has taken all necessary steps to deliver five lakh tonnes of fortified parboiled rice to FCI as per target given by the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD).
Odisha,he said, is in a position to deliver a higher quantity of fortified parboiled rice and DFPD has been requested to give additional targets of fortified parboiled rice during KMS 2021-22.
But the Centre has not yet notified the State for a higher quantity target so far, he regretted.
