West Bengal Government’s Paddy Procurement Scheme has got an excellent response. The paddy procurement scheme has led to an eight-time increase in procurement compared to last year.
The main reason for this good response is the MSP set by the government, which is Rs 300 more per quintal compared to the open market.
Seeing the amazing response, the government has revised upward its total procurement target to 52 lakh tonnes.
Now to enable everyone to sell their paddy or at least a part of it depending on a farmers and the government’s goal to reach the target of 52 lakh tonnes, a limit of 90 quintals per farmer has been set. Thus, even the most marginalised of farmers would be able to sell their production.
In the last kharif season, the state government had procured 27,000 tonnes of paddy from farmers, while during the 2018-19 kharif marketing season (KMS), 2.14 lakh tonnes have already been bought.
What is Paddy Procurement Scheme of West Bengal?
State minister Jyoti Priya Mallick said, “The West Bengal government has initiated measures to procure paddy directly from farmers, the payment for which will be credited to their bank accounts within 72 hours.”
"The state will arrange for a registration drive to provide farmers with an identity card for the paddy programme. All farmers will be receiving payments in their bank accounts within 72 hours of procurement. The system will check exploitation of farmers at the hands of middlemen and procurement agencies, Mallick said.”
