Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A month-old letter written by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav for centralising the paddy procurement process instead of decentralising it raised a storm in the state on Monday when it came to light.
In the letter, written to the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Prahlad Joshi on September 24, to centralise the process for procurement of food grains at minimum support price (MSP), instead of decentralising it.
Yadav cited the fact that the borrowing from banks is Rs 72.177 crore in the present procurement scheme. The clearance of stock is taking time, he wrote.
Because the actual cost is not being reimbursed, the government is incurring financial losses, Yadav wrote.
Because there were many problems in paying the loans taken from the bank, the wheat procurement was decentralised in 1999, and the same thing was done to paddy in 2007, he wrote.
Farmers to incur loss: Congress
The Congress took the government to task soon after the letter came to light. Former chief minister Kamal Nath said the BJP had promised to increase the MSP on paddy, but it reneged on its commitment.
Procurement from FCI will cause a heavy loss to the farmers, Nath said. According to MPCC president Jitu Patwari, when FCI procures the produce, it will reject lakhs of quintals of wheat in the name of quality.
In that case, the farmers will be forced to sell their produce at cheaper rates, he said. The Congress urged the government to roll back the decision, or else the party will launch an agitation.
Govt committed to procure crops at MSP, says minister
Food and Civil Supplies Minister Govind Singh Rajput said the government was committed to procuring each grain from farmers.
According to Rajput, if the procurement process is centralised, there will be no problems for the farmers. In the decentralised process, the state government bears the initial expenses, he said.
Getting back money in the process takes a long time, and in the centralised system, the Central Government bears the expenses, Rajput said. The Congress is misleading the farmers, Rajput said.
