Subhash Rajta
Tribune News Service
Shimla, October 25
Witnessing tardy procurement of paddy, the Himachal Pradesh Government has urged the Centre to extend the purchase process by a month till December 30.
KC Chaman, Director, Food and Civil Supplies, said the state had written to the Centre seeking extension of the deadline. "Given the pace at which paddy is being procured, the farmers who have registered on online portal will not be able to sell their produce by November 30," he said.
It's for the first time paddy is being procured through the portal in the state. "There's no middleman involved. Farmers sell their produce directly and get payment in their accounts within 48 hours," said Chaman.
Though paddy growers are happy with the initiative, some farmer bodies had raised questions over the pace of procurement, claiming it may take six months for all to sell their produce.
Agreeing that procurement was not progressing at the desired pace, Chaman attributed it to the farmers' unfamiliarity with the process. "Famers don't clean up their produce properly and when their crop is rejected, they start cleaning it up inside the market yard. This delays the procurement. They also need to be made aware about appropriate moisture content," he said.
Paddy is being procured at nine centres in four districts, namely Kangra, Una, Solan and Sirmaur. "We will procure 54,000 MT, with 19,000 MT from Sirmaur, 15,000 MT Kangra, 10,000 MT Solan
and 10,000 MT Una," said Chaman.
