Sonepur, Oct. 24: The Sonepur district administration has decided to computerise the process of paddy procurement in the 2010-11 kharif season, which is scheduled to begin from next month.
During the meeting of the district paddy procurement committee, Balangir district collector Gagan Bihari Swain hoped that computerisation of paddy procurement in the district would make the process transparent.
The collector said that henceforth farmers wouldn’t have to wait for a long time to get their payments, as they would be made online.
The district collector said the millers who didn’t achieve the target given to them last year would not be allowed to take part in the paddy procurement this season.
“We have taken a decision to computerise the paddy procurement process in the district. We have also decided to make online payments to farmers, who used to be harassed by the millers during payment,” Swain said.
Procurement of paddy in Sonepur will begin from November 20 and farmers will be paid the new rate that the central government has fixed. While the minimum support price for fine paddy is Rs 1,100 per quintal, it is Rs 1,080 per quintal for coarse paddy. It was also decided to crack down on false identity cards of farmers.
“We have decided to completely stop the use of false farmer identity cards during the procurement process. To this end we have decided to supply new identity cards to farmers. The speciality of the new I-cards is that they will have holograms,” said civil supply officer of Sonepur, Srikara Majhi.
He also said that the committee had decided to sternly deal with middlemen who disrupt the procurement process and cheat poor farmers.
“Stringent action will be taken against the middlemen who are found disrupting the procurement process. To this end officers will be deployed with magistrate powers and enforcement committees will be formed who will involve self-help groups (SHGs) in the villages for smooth procurement of paddy,” Majhi said.
The district collector said farmers were denied their payment for months after selling their paddy to millers.
