Minister steps in to clear the air on paddy procurement

The ongoing paddy procurement process in Jharkhand encountered a minor hitch on Wednesday when the state food minister’s comment about moisture content in crops led to an impression that the process had been halted, prompting the Opposition BJP to try and make quick capital out of the controversy.

Rameshwar Oraon set the record straight soon after, clarifying that his concerns about moisture content, was aired partially by a television news channel and hence misunderstood. He said the procurement process was on, but that he had only asked officials to ensure good quality crops were bought.

Oraon said, “Paddy procurement process has been started. But my concern is that officials shouldn’t buy in haste to meet the target and farmers too shouldn’t be in hurry to sell them at government centres unless the harvest stocks were totally dry.”

The minister explained that crops retained moisture after harvest, and it took two-three weeks for them to dry. “If we buy moisture laden stock, overall quantity is reduced once it has dried. As a result, even though we would have paid full money to the farmer, we will get less stocks. The money that the government is paying as minimum support price (MSP) to farmers is also public money and shouldn’t be wasted,” he said.

The state government kicked off paddy procurement process from Ranchi on Monday by setting up 23 centres in the district stating that other districts too would operationalise paddy centres within this week.