Chhattisgarh Paddy Procurement Row Deepens as Congress Alleges Huge Losses

On Tuesday, March 10, the Opposition Congress alleged an Rs 8,500 crore loss in Chhattisgarh’s paddy procurement process. However, the charge has been denied by the state government. Moreover, the charge sparked an uproar in the Chhattisgarh state assembly paddy procurement controversy that led to the brief suspension of 30 MLAs. The Opposition legislators were briefly suspended after they trooped into the well of the House, demanding a discussion on the issue through an adjournment motion notice. Leader of Opposition Charan Das Mahant raised the paddy procurement issue during Zero Hour and alleged that the government had failed to ensure proper storage and protection of paddy procured at the minimum support price.

What did the opposition say about the Paddy Procurement?

He claimed that out of 149.25 lakh metric tonnes of paddy procured during the 2024-25 kharif marketing season, 22.71 lakh quintals were yet to be disposed of, according to the department’s citizen report. Furthermore, the Congress leader alleged that the paddy was no longer of fair average quality and had either been eaten by rats, sold by corrupt officials, or destroyed due to poor storage and maintenance.

Besides this, he stated that 16.03 lakh quintals were missing from storage centres run by the marketing federation and 6.67 lakh quintals from paddy procurement centres. Adding to this, he also claimed that the Centre had refused to accept surplus rice from Chhattisgarh, forcing the state to sell 1.83 crore quintals of paddy at nearly 50 per cent below the cost price. He alleged that 128.61 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in 2024-25 were handed over to custom millers, but only 79.69 lakh metric tonnes of rice had been deposited in return, leaving a shortfall of about 6.48 lakh metric tonnes of rice — equivalent to nearly 9.67 lakh metric tonnes of paddy worth around Rs 3,869 crore.

Chhattisgarh was the first state to offer the highest price of Rs 3,100 per quintal for paddy

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dayaldas Baghel responded to the allegations and said that it was incorrect to claim that the state had suffered huge losses due to misgovernance or corruption in the paddy procurement scheme. He asserted that the state procured 149.25 lakh tonnes of paddy from 25.49 lakh farmers at the minimum support price declared by the Centre during the 2024-25 kharif marketing season, paying Rs 34,349 crore in MSP and Rs 11,928 crore under the Krishak Unnati Yojana and taking the total payment to paddy farmers to Rs 46,277 crore. The minister mentioned that Chhattisgarh was the first state in the country to provide the highest price of Rs 3,100 per quintal for paddy, including bonus, under the procurement system.

Additionally, he noted that April 30 had been set as the final deadline for disposal of paddy procured in the 2024-25 season, and the process was currently underway. The minister said 18.36 lakh tonnes of surplus paddy had already been disposed of through online auctions, nearly 1.60 lakh tonnes remained in storage centres and 67,000 tonnes at procurement centres, which is less than three per cent of the total procurement. Further, he dismissed the allegations that the paddy had been eaten by rats or sold by corrupt officials. On the contrary, he replied that it was being stored safely with proper arrangements, including covers and pest control measures. Dayaldas Baghel cited that stock verification had been completed at 2,728 of the 2,739 procurement centres, while the process was underway at the remaining 11 centres. Dissatisfied with the status quo, Congress MLAs raised slogans and entered the well of the House, following which the chair announced the suspension of 30 members. However, the suspension was later revoked.