Jharkhand begins paddy procurement, Minister vows to prevent outflow to Bengal

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Ranchi, Dec 15 (IANS) Jharkhand has commenced the procurement of paddy from farmers at Rs 2,400 per quintal, including a Rs 200 bonus above the Minimum Support Price (MSP). State Food Supply Minister Irfan Ansari said that the paddy produced in the state will not be allowed to go into neighboring West Bengal or other states.

Speaking at the inauguration of a paddy procurement center in Nizampura, Jamtara district on Sunday, Minister Ansari urged farmers to sell their harvest at government procurement centers only rather than through middlemen. “This year’s paddy crop will remain within Jharkhand to support the state’s food security,” he stated.

The government has set a procurement target of 60 lakh quintals this year, matching last year’s target. A total of 699 procurement centers have been set up across the state, with 112 centers starting operations on Sunday.

On the inaugural day, a quite a good number of farmers brought their harvest for sale.

Farmers will receive 50 per cent of the total amount for their paddy at the time of sale, with the remaining 50 per cent and the bonus to be paid after the paddy is processed by rice mills or delivered to district-level warehouses.

The Minister said farmers will receive Rs 2,400 per quintal for standard paddy and Rs 2,420 for grade-A paddy, inclusive of the Rs 200 per quintal bonus.

Over 2.33 lakh farmers have registered to sell paddy at government centers across the state. A cap of 200 quintals per farmer has been set to ensure equitable benefits for small and marginal farmers.

The state has reported a bumper crop this year, with an estimated production of 41.38 lakh tonnes of paddy cultivated across 15.48 lakh hectares. This marks a significant increase from 2023’s production of 32.10 lakh tonnes.

Minister Ansari also announced plans to enhance the efficiency of Public Distribution System (PDS) and Large Area Multipurpose Societies (LAMPS) across the state to ensure better support for farmers.

–IANS

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Musi Project a ploy to evict people for land sharks, says Kavitha

Hyderabad, Dec 18 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K. Kavitha alleged on Wednesday that the Musi Riverfront Development Project is a ploy to evict thousands of people for real estate sharks.

She declared that the BRS would fight for the rights of the people who would be evicted for the project.

She told media persons that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy himself had claimed that the cost of the Musi project would be a whopping Rs 1.5 lakh crore but the state government sought a loan of Rs 4,100 crore from the World Bank and made a request to the BJP government at the Centre for Rs 14,100 crore.

Making public some key documents relating to the project, she termed it a project with zero clarity, no transparency, massive loans, and no compensation plan for those forced to rehabilitate.

She alleged that Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu misled the House by giving wrong information that no assistance was sought from the World Bank for the Musi project and that DPR was not ready.

She said on September 19. the Congress party stated that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) was ready and sought Rs 4,100 crore from the World Bank. On October 4, it passed government order to hire consultants for DPR. On December 17, the government denied DPR in the Assembly.

“The timeline of one of the many Lies, loans & hypocrisy of the Congress government. This is Congress’s ‘vision’ for Telangana. Stop mortgaging the future of our State!,” she posted on social media platform X.

Kavitha made public the proposal sent to the World Bank which states that the DPR is ready. The proposal was sent to the World Bank on September 19.

“Now it is giving false information to people and the Legislature that there is no DPR,” she said and alleged that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is mortgaging Telangana and Hyderabad to the World Bank.

Kavitha, who is the daughter of BRS president and former chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, claimed that the government is “hiding” the truth about the project.

She stated that BRS, during its 10-year rule, never approached the World Bank for the loan. “However, within one year of the Congress party coming to power, CM Revanth Reddy is trying to mortgage Telangana and Hyderabad to the World Bank,” she said.

The BRS leader alleged that the Chief Minister is trying to snatch the lands of the poor around the Musi River and mortgage the same to the World Bank to do real estate.

She said in the proposal sent to the World Bank on September 19, the government mentioned the project as the Musi Riverfront Development project but Minister Sridhar Babu gave false information that the World Bank loan was sought for sewage treatment.

Kavitha said the government mentioned in the proposal that multistorey buildings would be constructed through real estate and land pooling.

She said even after sending a proposal to the World Bank in September, the government named a consortium for preparing the DPR.

“For whom the government is uttering lies. For whose sake the government is building this project,” she asked.

The BRS leader said people living in areas along the Musi River are living in fear. She said markings have been done on 15,000 houses in these areas and people fear that they may be evicted anytime.

–IANS

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