Agartala, December 02, 2022: Tripura government has decided to procure 35,000 metric tonnes of paddy from farmers through Food Corporation of India at a minimum support price of Rs 20.40 per kilogram from December itself and Rs 87.03 crore is expected to be spent.
Addressing a press conference at Civil Secretariat here in Agartala city on Friday afternoon, Cabinet spokesperson and ICA minister Sushanta Chowdhury said that the council of ministers under the chairmanship Chief Minister Prof Dr Manik Saha in the evening of Thursday last initiated multiple decisions and among them, welfare of farmers cultivating paddies across the state is one of the significant ones.
He said “Before formation of the government in Tripura, we had promised to procure paddy from the poor farmers through FCI at MSP. The previous Leftist government claimed to be pro-farmers, but never initiated any step for procurement of paddy from them. The then government used to blame the centre for not sanctioning funds. But, at present, the government has initiated the process since the 2018-19 fiscal year starting with an MSP of Rs 17.50 per kilogram.”
Speaking to mediapersons, Chowdhury asserted “In 2018-19 financial year, we have procured paddy of 27,270 MTs in two seasons with MSP of Rs 17.50 per kilogram; in 2019-20, 20,744 MTs of paddy procured with MSP of Rs 18.15 per kilogram; in 2020-21, 24,240 MTs of paddy procured with MSP of Rs 18.68 per kilogram; and in 2021-22, 57,843 MTs of paddy procured with MSP of Rs 19.40 per kilogram. The government has set a target of procuring 35,000 MTs in this season with an MSP of Rs 20.40 per kilogram and expected expenditure would be Rs 87.03 crore.”
He also said that the government has procured 1.31 lakh MTs of paddy from farmers spending Rs 243.99 crore since 2018-19 to 2021-22 fiscal years.
The ICA minister expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the former and incumbent Chief Ministers Biplab Kumar Deb and Prof Dr Saha, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare minister Pranajit Singha Roy and Food and Civil Supplies minister Manoj Kanti Deb for this initiative of procuring paddy from the farmers at MSP.