To curb irregularities: Groundnut procurement to be videographed, says Gujarat govt

Agriculture Minister R C Faldu and Food & Civil Supplies Minister Jayesh Radadiya said that the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation Of India Ltd. (NAFED) and Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation will jointly carry out the procurement of groundnut.

The ministers said that this year around 26.92 lakh metric tonne of groundnut production is estimated and the government has decided to procure it at MSP of Rs 5,000 per quintal. They added that the Central government has declared MSP of Rs 4,890 per quintal for groundnut and Gujarat government will add bonus of Rs 110 to it.

“Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation will begin procurement of groundnut from 122 procurement centres. All the procurement centres will be started only at APMC. During procurement procedure at the centres, CCTV camera facility will be available and its footages will be saved. At the procurement centres, the procurement procedure will also be videographed daily. And for surveillance at the centre, a squad will be formed under the leadership of a Class I Deputy Collector Rank officer.”

They also stated that the procurement will be done under the Central Government’s umbrella scheme, Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) for procurement of agriculture produce at MSP. The online registration for it will begin from November 1.

At the procurement centres, one farmer will be able to sell maximum 1,750 kg groundnut per day. And the maximum limit of procurement from each farmer will be 2 hectares. As per the government’s estimation, production per hectare this year is likely to remain around 1,836 kg.

Drought relief: Congress questions December 1 deadline

Claiming that the state government had declared as many as 51 talukas as scarcity-hit after the state unit of Congress launched agitations, the party on Tuesday questioned why the disbursal of compensation to drought-hit farmers was being “delayed” till December 1.

Party spokesperson Manish Doshi said, “Farmers are suffering from drought. They don’t have resources to take care of their cattle or meet their requirements as their crops have failed due to drought. Instead of extending financial assistance with immediate effect, the state government is delaying it by more than a month.”

“You (the government) have conducted survey and received reports from the field about the extent of damage due to drought. Why this delay? What are you waiting for?’’ Doshi asked.