Farmers running out of time to sell paddy: Congress blames token halt and holidays

Raipur: Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee president Deepak Baij on Thursday demanded that the government extend the paddy procurement deadline by at least one month. The PCC chief noted that with the January 31 deadline approaching, only nine days remain for procurement. He pointed out that four of these days are holidays—24, 25, 26, and 31 January—leaving only five working days for farmers to sell their produce. He claimed the government has stopped issuing both online and offline tokens, leaving 5.5 lakh farmers unable to sell their crops and over 4.7 lakh farmers unregistered."Against a target of 165 lakh metric tonnes, only 115 lakh metric tonnes have been procured so far. It is impossible to buy the remaining 50 lakh tonnes in five days," Baij said. He urged the government to resume token distribution and ensure that every grain is purchased at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).He claimed that negligence and lack of proper storage have resulted in a loss of Rs 1,037.55 crore this year. He further alleged that 25.93 lakh quintals of paddy from the previous season remained un-milled, with a significant portion rotting in collection centres due to rain and pests.Baij also accused the BJP government of failing to honour its poll promise of paying Rs 3,100 per quintal. He stated that following an MSP hike of Rs 186 over two years, the government should pay farmers Rs 3,286 per quintal.