Bhubhaneshwar ,Rice millers will have no role to play in paddy purchase: Patra
Bhubaneswar’s Minister for Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare, Krushna Chandra Patra, announced that rice millers will no longer purchase paddy from mandis during the upcoming procurement season, which begins in November. Only central agencies and primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACS) will handle procurement to enhance transparency. Each minister will oversee two districts, with collectors fully responsible for their areas.
BHUBANESWAR : Minister for Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Krushna Chandra Patra on Friday said rice millers will no longer purchase paddy from the mandis during this procurement season which is scheduled to start from November.
The minister told mediapersons that procurement of paddy will be done only by the central agencies and primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACS). The decision has been taken to maintain transparency in the procurement process, he said.
Patra said every minister will be given charge of two districts to oversee the procurement process while the collectors will be made fully responsible for their respective districts. A government officer will remain in charge of a mandi under the overall supervision of the district collector.
Stating that the rice millers will have nothing to do with procurement of paddy, the minister said they will be given target only for milling.
Welcoming the minister’s statement, general secretary of the All Odisha Rice Millers Association (AORMA) Laxminarayan Deepak Ranjan Das said that the minister has stated what the association had been demanding all along. Stating that the millers have no role in procurement, Das said it should be done mainly by the PACS. The transportation to mills is the responsibility of the government.
Earlier, the millers were allowed to transport the paddy from mandis to the mills. “Transportation of paddy from a mandi to the mill is not the job of a miller. It should be done by the government but millers took on the responsibility without any cost. Millers do not want to do this job any longer,” he said.
Source Link : https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bhubaneswar/2024/Oct/19/rice-millers-will-have-no-role-to-play-in-paddy-purchase-patra
