Chhattisgarh: Paddy Procurement Surpasses 12 Million Tonne Mark

On Wednesday, the Chhattisgarh paddy production reached 12 lakh tonnes. In the current market year, the state government has so far purchased roughly 13.34 lakh tonnes of paddy.

A payment of Rs 2,803 crore has been distributed among 3.85 lakh farmers in the lieu of paddy purchase. Along with the acquisition of the crop, work to elevate the paddy for custom milling is under process.

Approximately 5.73 lakh metric tonnes of paddy have been taken from the societies for custom milling, and it is anticipated that 110 lakh metric tonnes of paddy would be purchased this year, according to an official announcement.

This year, grade-A paddy costs Rs 2060 per quintal, while regular paddy is purchased for Rs 2040 per quintal.

Meanwhile, the "Token Tunhar Haath" mobile app offers farmers a new convenience that saves them from spending hours in line by allowing them to receive tokens online and arrive when their turn comes. In addition, the announcement stated that tokens are also manually issued in advance for farmers' convenience.

On Thursday, a total of 50,283 offline tokens and 7265 online tokens have been distributed across the state.

Earlier, news surfaced about two staffers at Korbi paddy procurement centre in Janjgir Champa district bieng fired owing to 'financial irregularities', followed by a FIR filed against them in the matter.

Before that, three police personnel were reportedly hurt during a violent protest in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district over the need for a paddy procurement centre on Tuesday.

Viral videos of the incident showed protesters throwing stones at police officials and aiming the government vehicles. Up until this point, about a dozen protesters have been detained.

The Indian Penal Code's sections 147 (rioting), 186 (obstructing public servants in the performance of their duties), 353, 294 (obscene acts and songs), 506 (criminal intimidation), and others, as well as the Public Property (Prevention of Damage) Act, have all been used against the protestors in three separate cases.

The situation is currently under control, according to Arif Sheikh, the Raipur range's Inspector General of Police.

"The residents of Kandekala village were demonstrating on National Highway 130 next to Dhurvagudi village, calling for the relocation of a paddy procurement centre that is now two kilometres away at Bhejipadar. The police and senior government officials tried to control them, but they suddenly started throwing stones at the cops," the officer told media.

Notably, residents of three nearby villages wrote to the local government saying that they had no issues selling paddy at the Bhejipadar center.