Bhubaneswar, Odisha government on Wednesday allowed district collectors to extend the validity of tokens given to farmers, by 15 days to ensure that no one is deprived of the opportunity to sell paddy in state-run mandis during the Kharif marketing season.
The government’s move comes in the wake of a state-level protest over alleged mismanagement in paddy procurement across Odisha.
The issue was raised inside and outside the council, with parties holding demonstrations demanding justice for farmers.
As part of the paddy procurement process, the state government issues codes to registered farmers to sell their produce at a specified mandi price within a specified period of time.
There were allegations that farmers faced difficulties in adhering to the deadline mentioned in the codes due to delays in the mandis.
“The district collectors have been given the power to extend the validity of the token by 15 days to ensure that every registered farmer gets the opportunity to sell their produce without any hassle,” Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister KC Patra said in a video message issued by the department.
Assuring that paddy procurement is going smoothly under the direct monitoring of the central command centre, the minister said farmers can sell their produce at state-run mandis till the end of the kharif marketing season on March 31.
“So far, the state government has procured 63,65,000 metric tons of paddy. Districts like Bargarh and Sambalpur have completed nearly 95 per cent of their procurement,” he said, adding that the government is ready to procure up to 80,000 metric tons of paddy this time.
Batra also said that the state government has already disbursed the funds $Rs 17,000 crore were directly deposited into farmers’ bank accounts within 48 hours of the purchase.
He said rice procurement for KMS 2025-26 is progressing steadily in all 30 districts of Odisha, with the state achieving 80 per cent of the total procurement target.
He added that more than 13 regions have already exceeded 90 percent of their allocated procurement targets.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
