Patna: The Bihar government has started working on formation of vegetable cooperative society at block levels to economically strengthen farmers by ensuring fair price to them, cooperative minister Rana Randhir said on Wednesday.

The minister said this in the Assembly while replying to a debate on his department's budgetary allocation of Rs 806.50 crore for 2018-19.

"With a view to economically strengthen vegetable farmers and ensuring them fair price of their produce, the government has started constituting three-tier vegetable cooperative society in the state," Randhir said.

"In the first phase, out of 97 blocks of five districts - Patna, Nalanda, Vaishali, Samastipur and Begusarai - the government has constituted vegetable cooperative societies in 83 blocks," he said, adding that such societies will be set up across the state in future at block level.

Opposition RJD, Congress members staged a walkout from the House expressing dissatisfaction over government's reply. Stating that Bihar, currently, ranked third in vegetable production in the country, the minister said the government is committed to make Bihar a number one vegetable producing state.

The government is committed to provide fair price to farmers of their produce, the minister said, adding that in most of the districts, farmers are selling their paddy at MSP price of around Rs 1,550 per quintal, which is certainly an achievement for the government.

Earlier, replying to a debate on revenue and land reforms department's budgetary allocation of Rs 729.41 crore in the Assembly, revenue and land reforms minister Ram Narayan Mandal announced that from April 1, 2018, people can make online payment of their land receipt for which a software is being developed with the help of NIC.

This would help common ryots (farmers) in knowing about the "dues" of their land receipt, he said. With a view to making revenue maps easily available to the farmers, the department has made the arrangements for providing maps in 30 districts within the state and in two cities of Delhi and Mumbai, the minister said. PTI