UP claims highest-ever purchase of paddy during kharif season

LUCKNOW : The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday claimed to have made the highest-ever paddy purchase from farmers during the kharif season which ended on February 28.

The achievement may come as a shot in the arm for the ruling BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha poll, people privy to the matter indicated.

The government said it had achieved 96% of the target and purchased 48.20 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of paddy directly from farmers during the kharif season 2018-19 that ended on February 28.

Additional commissioner, food and civil supply, (marketing) AK Singh said, “This is the highest-ever paddy procurement in UP, the previous best being 43.43 lakh MT during 2015-16.”

He added the achievement became even bigger considering the fact that middlemen were kept away from purchasing paddy from farmers and selling the same back to government procurement centres.

As many as 3,252 government centres purchased over 48 lakh

› Centres purchased over 48 lakh MT paddy from 6,83,034 farmers and made online transfer of Rs 8537.77 crore directly to their account, ensuring they got the money within 72 hours of selling the produce

AK SINGH, Additional commissioner, food and civil supply (marketing)

MT paddy from 6,83,034 farmers all over the state, the official said.

“We made online transfer of Rs 8537.77 crore directly to farmers’ account, ensuring they got the money within 72 hours of selling the produce,” Singh said.

Two days a week were reserved exclusively for small and marginal farmers to sell the paddy to government centres, he said.

Some districts, including Shahjahanpur, Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri and Rampur, are said to have done exceptionally well.

The achievement was made even though in the first twothree months of the season, paddy procurement remained quite slow as the state government put some tough pre-conditions for farmers to be able to sell to government procurement centres in a bid to prevent the middlemen from taking the benefit of higher minimum support price (MSP).

“Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who holds the food and civil supply portfolio, convened several meetings tweaking the policy after which principal secretary, food and civil commissioner, Nivedita Shukla and commissioner Alok Kumar made close and rigorous monitoring every day, all resulting in the desired dividends,” people familiar with the matter said.

The government claims to have taken action in 472 cases for irregularities in purchase of paddy. Notices were issued to 96 traders. The trading licences of two others were cancelled and some government staff were penalized, he said.

People familiar with the matter said the BJP was sure to tomtom the ‘record paddy purchase’ as its big achievement to woo farmers during the polls.