UP Likely To Break Its Own Record Of Paddy Procurement
Lucknow, Feb 2: The Uttar Pradesh Government is on the verge of breaking its own record of last year’s paddy procurement. UP has so far purchased more than 61 lakh MT of the crop benefiting more than 9.87 lakh farmers since its commencement on October 1. The state government agencies procured over 66 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in 2020-21 to benefit 13 lakh farmers.
As the paddy procurement is progressing smoothly in Kharif Marketing Season 2021-22 at MSP from farmers, paddy worth Rs 11686.35 crore, despite the ongoing wave of Covid-19 in Uttar Pradesh has been procured. A quantity of 61.303 lakh MT of paddy has been procured in KMS 2021-22 up to January 31, informed Sorabh Babu, Commissioner, Food and Civil Supplies here on Wednesday.
As per the reports given by the departments, of the total paddy purchased, about 85 percent of the payment is already transferred amounting to Rs 9895.59 crore. The balance payment of Rs 1790.76 crore will be transferred within 72 hours. The chief minister has already given directions that the needs of farmers should be taken care of at the paddy purchasing centers. He has also asked to make arrangements for bonfires etc. to protect the farmers from cold. Paddy should be procured from every eligible farmer who comes to the purchasing center without any delay in payment, he had said.
Arrangements have been made to ensure farmers are not harassed by middlemen. Strict monitoring is also being done to make the process smooth. A total of 4624 procurement centres have been set up across the state to facilitate a direct purchase from farmers against last year’s 4304 centres in 73 districts. Amid the rising cases of coronavirus, the arrangements regarding masking, physical distancing, hand hygiene, sanitisation, and others are taken care of. To prevent the farmers from getting infected with the coronavirus, Covid help desks have been set up at every centre.
