State Government Committed to Ensure MSP: CM Sarbananda Sonowal

Guwahati: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said that his government is committed to ensure the MSP (Minimum Support Price) at Rs 1,868 (MSP) per quintal of paddy in the State.

Chairing the meeting to discuss the modalities to strengthen supply chain of paddy procurement of the State on Friday, Sonowal asked the Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs Department and the Agriculture Department to review the existing system, remove the bottlenecks and give shape to a simpler procedure for the farmers to sell their produce to the government agencies. He observed that the method for selling produce by the farmers and procuring paddy and other essentials by the government should be simpler, devoid of any procedural difficulties.

"Economy of the State is predominantly dependent on agriculture. The growth of the State is also dependent on the socio-economic development of the farmers. Therefore, the State government, always remained committed to the socio-economic development of the farming community of the State," Sonowal said. He at the same time requested the farmers to sell the produce to the government authorized agencies, including Food Corporation of India for the government to ensure MSP to the farmers.

Recognizing the role of FCI in paddy procurement in the state, Sonowal asked FCI Executive Director Manoj Kumar Gogoi to increase paddy procurement centres beyond the existing 39 centres in the State. Sonowal observed that since the farmers grow their produce in rural areas, there must be procurement centres at the village level. He, therefore, asked the FCI to set up procurement centres in each development block of the State which would also act as sell points for the farmers.

The Chief Minister also asked the FCI authority to set up procurement and sell points in the Barak Valley on priority basis. He also discussed several related issues with the FCI to fine tune production, procurement and marketing of the agricultural produce and revamp the supply chain of the sector.

Sonowal also asked Principal Secretary of Agriculture Rajesh Prasad to integrate the components of infrastructural development of agriculture in the rural areas with Chief Minister SamagraGrammyaUnnayanYojana.

Minister for Food, Civil Supply and Consumer Affairs PhaniBhusanChoudhury and top-level officers of the Food and Civil Supplies department and FCI were present at the meeting, a press release said.

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