Bhubaneswar: In a major relief for farmers, the state government has extended the deadline for registration for paddy procurement by another seven days.
Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra informed about the decision on Saturday.
The Minister said the paddy registration process, which began on August 6 this year, was scheduled to end on August 31. So far, more than 17 lakh farmers have registered for paddy sale. Last year, a total of 19.67 lakh farmers had registered, and a similar number is expected this year as well.
He said that farmers faced network issues at some places during the registration process, causing inconvenience. Discussions have been held with the technical team to resolve the problem and the government has assured that the network and technical glitches will be fixed soon.
