Question : Irregularities in Paddy Procurement

(a) whether paddy is not being procured from the farmers on Minimum Support Price (MSP) through paddy procurement centres for the last one year in Bhandara-Gondia of Maharashtra and paddy is being procured from the traders in the name of farmers and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether cases of alleged fraud and irregularities in these centres are being reported;

(c) if so, whether the Union Government proposes or is likely to conduct CBI inquiry into these cases in the procurement of paddy; and

(d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

A N S W E R
MINISTER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY, CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION AND TEXTILES
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO.293 FOR ANSWER ON 23.03.2022 IN THE LOK SABHA.


(a): Maharashtra has adopted Decentralized Procurement (DCP) Scheme for procurement of paddy under which, the State Government itself undertakes direct purchase of paddy from farmers.

Paddy procured in Bhandara and Gondia District of Maharashtra during last two and current Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) is as under:
(In MT)
Name of district Kharif Marketing Season (KMS)
2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
(as on 15.03.2022)
Bhandara 457212.20 559101.20 380659.70
Gondia 761388.10 720739.20 441066.00

(b) to (d): Yes, Sir. Some complaints like delay in paddy procurement, procurement of paddy from middlemen, corruption in paddy procurement, etc. for the period of 2020-21 were received from public representatives of Maharashtra. Looking at the seriousness of the issue, the matter was referred to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for detailed investigation.
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