BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has asked the Revenue Department to put a mechanism in place to extend the benefit of minimum support price for paddy to share-croppers. Although the government has recognised the rights of the share-croppers, the administrations are yet to evolve a process to identify them. The Food and Procurement Policy said the Revenue Department should find out a mechanism so that the share-croppers will not have to depend on the landowners for consent letters at the time of harvest. The government on Sunday named five agencies for paddy procurement pending finalisation of district-wise procurement target. The agencies are Orissa State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC), National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED), Orissa State Cooperative Marketing Federation (MARKFED), Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation (TDCC) and Food Corporation of India (FCI). The bulk procurement will be done by OSCSC through more than 1,300 primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS), women self-help groups (WSHGs) and pani panchayats. However, it will be the responsibility of the district collectors to prepare a list of societies which will participate in the procurement operations as agents of Civil Supplies Corporation. The operational areas of procurement will be decided by the district administration. While each PAC will cater to the needs of the farmers of two to four panchayats, the WSHGs and pani panchayats will operate in small areas. The WSHGs and pani panchayats, which participated in the last year’s procurement, may be given preference. Infrastructure facilities for the mandis will be provided by regulated market committees (RMCs), the procurement policy said. The FCI has been asked to procure paddy equivalent to 50,000 tonnes rice. Under the decentralised procurement scheme, the OSCSC will utilise custom-milled rice, obtained from the paddy procured by its agencies, for supply under public distribution system (PDS). The State PSU will deliver the surplus rice, after meeting the PDS requirement, to the FCI. The rice-miller agents have been given a target for procurement of paddy equivalent to one lakh tonne of rice. The district collectors have been advised to initiate various IEC (information, education and communication) activities to create awareness among the farmers about the fair average quality (FAQ) norms of paddy and the minimum support price for paddy announced by the Government. If the paddy brought to the mandis does not conform to FAQ standard, the farmer will have the option to take it back and improve the quality or the mandis will improve the quality on payment. While farmers have been asked to produce kisan credit card, land passbook and voters identity card, share-croppers should come with farmers identity card (FIC).
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