Chhattisgarh govt's move to sell surplus paddy in open market will cause huge losses, claims Cong

Raipur, Mar 11 (PTI) The opposition Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Chhattisgarh government's decision to sell in the open market surplus paddy it procured in the Kharif marketing year (KMY) 2024-25 will cause a huge loss to the state exchequer.

Congress members demanded a discussion on the issue in the state legislative assembly by moving an adjournment motion notice.

The chair disallowed the demand after the state Food Minister Dayaldas Baghel responded to their charges, following which Congress legislators trooped into the well of the House and were suspended.

Raising the issue of paddy procurement in the Zero Hour, Leader of Opposition Charan Das Mahant said the state government procured 149.24 lakh tonnes of paddy at support price in the KMY 2024-25 under the Centre's procurement scheme.

According to the data presented by the government, after supplying rice from the procured paddy to the Centre and state pools, the state will be left with a surplus of 40 lakh tonnes, he said.

Mahant said the state government has decided to sell this surplus paddy in the open market by inviting tenders.

Congress legislators, in the adjournment motion notice, pointed out that 172 lakh tonnes of paddy was procured from farmers in Punjab on the support price, and the Centre accepted the entire stock.

They further questioned why the Centre wasn't accepting surplus rice from Chhattisgarh.

Congress members claimed that selling 40 lakh tonnes of paddy in the open market would cause a loss of Rs 8,000 crore to the state exchequer, and no provision was made for this in the budget.

They sought to know whether the Centre would compensate for the loss under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantee and demanded a discussion on their adjournment motion notice.

Speaker Raman Singh read their notice in the House and said the state food minister would give a statement.

Countering the opposition's charges, Minister Dayaldas Baghel said that a record 149,24,710 lakh tonnes of paddy were purchased from farmers at minimum support price in 2024-25.

He said the Centre's food department permitted the state to procure 70 lakh tonnes of rice in the Central pool.

The Civil Supplies Corporation would procure 13.34 lakh tonnes of rice under the state pool, he said, adding that rice procured by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was being sent to other states through the railways.

The minister said the state government, while fulfilling PM Modi's guarantee, has paid Rs 46,277 crore to farmers against paddy procurement at the rate of Rs 3,100 per quintal, and the amount also includes input assistance for cultivators under the Krishak Unnati Yojana apart from the MSP.

The state government has decided to sell the surplus paddy up to the limit of 40 lakh tonnes through auction, he said.

Baghel pointed out that in the KMY 2020-21 also, 8.96 lakh tonnes of paddy was disposed of through auction in the state, and said it was incorrect to say that the government is causing loss to the state exchequer by ignoring the labour of farmers.

After the minister's reply, the Speaker rejected the motion.

Subsequently, Congress members, including Mahant and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans and were automatically suspended.

The Speaker later revoked their suspension. PTI TKP ARU