Kerala, Jharkhand & Rajasthan seek paddy procurement knowhow from Bengal govt

Kolkata: Three states, namely Kerala, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, have approached the Mamata Banerjee government seeking knowledge sharing on the "portal-based" mechanism that is being used by the state Food and Supplies department to procure paddy directly from farmers, negating involvement of middlemen.

In a unique move, the state Food and Supplies department has used the portal of the state Agriculture department having details of 52 lakh farmers, who have their own land and received benefits of Krishak Bandhu scheme.

Based on the data, officials of the Food and Supplies department have easily reached the farmers and made procurement of 23.67 lakh tonnes of paddy in this season till mid-February.

Out of the same, 14 lakh tonnes of paddy was procured directly through the Centralised Procurement Centres (CPC).

Jyotiptiya Mallick, the state Food and Supplies minister, said: "The success has come just because of the initiatives taken up by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Krishak Bandhu scheme was launched by the Chief Minister to provide financial support to farmers in the state and using the same data now, the process of paddy procurement has also smoothened. Officials from the concerned department of three state governments - Kerala, Jharkhand and Rajasthan – have now contacted us to know how the procurement has become possible so fast and that too, without any grievances of farmers."

Though the dates are yet to be finalised, teams from concerned departments of the three states will be visiting Bengal for knowledge sharing on the method, the minister added.

Due to delay in cultivation caused by inclement weather, paddy procurement gained momentum from end of December and the target of procuring 30 lakh tonnes of the same can be achieved by the end of February, said an official of the state Food and Supplies department.

The department procures a maximum of 45 quintals of paddy from each farmer. With the details available in the Krishak Bandhu portal, officials of the department have easily assessed the approximate quantity of paddy that can be procured from each of the farmers who have their own land.

Share croppers have also sold their produce directly to the state government, against a self declaration that he or she cultivated the same in someone else's land, which was attested by their local Block Development Officers.

The state Food and Supplies department used the data of the Krishak Bandhu portal to ease out the paddy procurement process, following a meeting with the state Agriculture department and a clearance from the Chief Minister's office.