Bhubaneswar: While Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan has urged the Centre to procure 10 lakh metric tons (LMT) more parboiled rice from Odisha in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2023-24 for the benefit of the farmers of the state, the proposal has been accepted.

Shri Pradhan thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Piyush Goyal for taking prompt action to protect the request. He said that lakhs of farmers of Odisha will benefit from this initiative.

On Tuesday, Pradhan wrote to the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Distribution Piyush Goyal and said, “I request you to kindly issue instruction to FCI to procure 10 LMT of parboiled rice from Odisha in the KMS 2023-24 in addition to augmentation of procurement target, which will significantly help secure the livelihood of lakhs of farmers in the state whose main source of earning has been through MSP operations of paddy procurement.”

Pradhan mentioned that the central government has allocated a target of procuring 44.28 LMT of rice in the KMS 2023-24 in the initial allocation target. However, besides meeting the state’s own requirement of rice for NFSA, SFSA and other welfare schemes, enough parboiled fortified rice would be left which needs to evacuated by the FCI, the Union Education Minister, who belongs to Odisha, said in the letter.

Published Date: January 19, 2024