(Ritambhara, intern journalist) Government procurement of paddy has reached close to 20 million tonnes within a month in the current Kharif season. Union Consumer Affairs and Food Minister Piyush Goyal said that a record of 7.42 million tonnes of paddy is expected to be procured this time. This is 18 percent more than the previous season. Government procurement of 1.88 crore tonnes of paddy has been done within the last one month, which is 24 percent more than the previous season’s 15.8 million tonnes.
Newly appointed Consumer Affairs and Food Minister Goyal said that the intention of the government is to buy more and more of the farmers’ produce. That is why for the current Kharif season, more than 39000 procurement centers have been set up so far. Paddy is being procured in all the paddy growing states from north to south.
So far 130 million tonnes of paddy have been procured in Punjab, which is 37 percent more than the 95 lakh tonnes of the previous season. In Uttar Pradesh, 3.90 lakh tonnes of paddy has been purchased in the current season as compared to 76,000 tonnes last year. In Tamil Nadu, it has reached 3.56 lakh tonnes as against 34 thousand tonnes.
After fast procurement in Punjab, now the pace of procurement of paddy in other states including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Bihar will be faster. Central agencies will arrange and monitor paddy procurement as per the demand of the states. Assembly election campaign is at a peak in Bihar. Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said that the arrival of paddy at the procurement centers set up in Bihar starts from November 15. Preparations have been made for this.
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