Civil Supplies Commissioner Akun Sabharwal on Thursday instructed officials to buy paddy, which has crossed the expected arrival this rabi. While the district agriculture department expected a flow of 5.87 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, the procurement stood at 10.71 lakh metric tonnes as of Thursday.
Taking stock of the arrangements for paddy procurement, Mr. Sabharwal, who was here on Thursday, said all the paddy procured at the government-organised centres would get the minimum support price.
The officials explained to him that the procurement was on through 213 centres, and as on date, ₹189.60 crore worth of paddy from 14,389 farmers has been purchased. However, they added that there was an immediate need for repairs to weighing scales and moisture-testing instruments.
Responding to the situation, Mr. Sabharwal said the budget for paddy procurement was estimated at ₹155 crore, and it would be released during the week.
Stressing on the need for proper maintenance of records and hamali assistance at procurement centres, he said the procured produce should be tagged and sent to mills at the earliest.
The Commissioner later visited the nearest Arjalabavi IKP centre, interacted with the farmers and inspected the quality of the produce bought by the officials. Mr. Sabharwal said he would tour more districts to review the situation across the State.