Bhubaneswar: Minister for Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Krushna Chandra Patra reviewed various activities and programmes of the department at Lokseva Bhawan. The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department Sanjay Kumar Singh, Managing Director, Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation, K. Sudarshan Chakravarthy along with other senior officials.
At the outset, Principal Secretary Singh apprised about various programmes and initiatives of the department. So far, 10 lakh metric tonnes of paddy have been procured from around 2.28 lakh farmers during the ongoing kharif season in the State and about Rs. 1790 crore has been transferred to the farmers’ accounts as MSP and Rs 552 crore as Input Assistance.
The minister instructed officials to expedite the procurement, adopting all transparency measures during ongoing Kharif season and to protect the interests of the farmers. He also emphasised on appropriate action on the allegations of irregularities.
The department plans to establish 10 LMT capacity godowns, as construction of 4 LMT capacities has received the government nod. Similarly, a proposal for the construction of another 6 LMT Godown will be submitted soon. Process for evacuation of surplus rice produced from the paddy procured to the Food Corporation of India was also discussed in this review meeting.
