Bhubaneswar, Mar 4: Supplies Minister Sanjay Das Burma said today in the Assembly that under the P-Procurement Automation System (P-PAS) mechanism the State Government has managed to obtain procured more than 30 lakh tonne of paddy so far this year from 294 blocks across the state. A total of 31, 14,789 metric tonne of paddy has been procured even as the collection deadline is till April end. Burma said this during the question hour on the last day of the first phase of Budget session today.
The Procurement fees which is Rs 4,579 crore has been transferred to the accounts of the beneficiary farmers, the minister said. Today in the house, proceedings were smooth from the morning but it went disrupted during discussions on paddy procurement, farmers suicide issue and distress sale of vegetables. The oppositions smashed on the government on charges of rampant irregularities in paddy procurement and demanded an enquiry into the matter, to which Das Burma said that MLAs are not interested in taking responsibility. Regarding the gross indifference over distress sale of vegetables and continuous farmer suicides, both ruling and opposition parties’ MLAs demanded explanation from the government. Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy will be supposedly keeping his statements on the issue today as previously the Speaker had passed a ruling asking the minister to answer the questions.
