Uttar Pradesh: CM Yogi Adityanath Reviews Paddy Procurement Progress, Directs Smooth Conduct Of Operations

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, on Tuesday (23 November), in a meeting held at his official residence, reviewed the progress of the paddy procurement process in the state.

He directed that the institutions involved in the purchase of paddy ensure that the purchasing centres are operational on time and that payments should be made to farmers within 72 hours of weighing of produce.

Along with this, the state government has exempted any yield of paddy up to 100 quintals from the verification of the revenue department.

The Chief Minister said that the state government, for the convenience of the farmers, has taken numerous innovative initiatives in the paddy procurement year of 2021-22.

It must be ensured that the farmers get the benefits of all these efforts, and all the District Magistrates should regularly inspect the purchasing centres in their districts, the CM maintained.

The Divisional Commissioner should also visit the centres and communicate with the farmers and send feedback of the paddy procurement process to the government.

Nodal officers should be fully active and senior officials at the government level should closely monitor this process.

Currents Statistics For The Paddy Procurement Year 2021-22

The officials informed CM Adityanath that more centres have been set up in the paddy procurement year 2021-22 as compared to the previous procurement year.

This year, 4,370 centres have been set up in the state, whereas last year, there were only 4231 centres. So far, 7.52 lakh metric tonnes of paddy worth Rs 1,461 crore has been procured.

So far, Rs 808 crore has been paid to the farmers. A total of 1,265 mills have sent their applications for grinding of paddy. Out of the 1,265 applications received, the verification of 1,063 mills has already been done.

Aadhaar Authentication Through An e-Pop Device To Check Frauds

For the first time in the state, this year, paddy is being procured from farmers through Aadhaar authentication through an e-Pop device.

At the purchase centres, arrangements have been made for Aadhaar authentication by placing the thumb of the beneficiary farmer and the centre in-charge on the e-Pop device.

In registering the farmers, verification is done by matching the name mentioned in their Aadhaar with the name mentioned in their Khatauni (a document that carries the information related to the land for cultivation and about its owner).

The entire process of paddy procurement is now online.

The Chief Minister was apprised that it was for the first time that the price of paddy was being paid directly into the Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of the farmers by getting their accounts verified through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS).