BJP demands white paper on paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh BJP on Sunday demanded a white paper on paddy procurement from the ruling Congress government in the state and said the issue will be raised in the upcoming monsoon session of the state Assembly scheduled to begin on July 18.

Addressing a press conference here, BJP leaders presented a video of state Food and Civil Supplies Minister Amarjeet Bhagat recorded in state Assembly, in which he was seen saying the state government had paid Rs 11,148 crore for paddy, while the Centre had paid Rs 51,563 crore.

The BJP’s state general secretary O P Choudhary also presented year-wise monitory allocations by the Centre for paddy procurement. BJP leader Chandrashekhar Sahu and BJP agriculture wing president Pawan Shau were also present.

The BJP leaders challenged Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and state Agriculture Minister Ravindra Choubey to an open debate about paddy procurement in the state. Paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh was possible only with the support of the Central government, Choudhary said. He claimed that last year, 81 per cent of the paddy was purchased by the Central government and it has already made about 3/4th of the payment to the state.

Choudhary further alleged that Choubey had posted misleading data on paddy procurement and the Central government’s contribution on his Twitter handle.

Claiming that the data released by the state agriculture minister was wrong, the BJP leader said the prime minister has been increasing the minimum support price (MSP), but the state government was not hiking the bonus given to farmers in the same ratio.

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