Centre must urgently evacuate 30 Lakh MT surplus rice in Kharif Season from Odisha and
release Rs. 5616 Crores pending Subsidy to Odisha:
BJD Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Sasmit Patra in Rajya Sabha today
New Delhi: This morning in Rajya Sabha, the BJD Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Sasmit Patra raised the need for the immediate evacuation of surplus rice from Odisha amounting to 30 Lakh Metric Ton for the present Kharif season and payment of pending subsidy of Rs.5616 crores from the Govt of India to Odisha towards rice procurement.
Centre must urgently evacuate 30 Lakh MT surplus rice
Speaking in his mother tongue Odia, Dr. Patra stated that Odisha is the 4th highest contributor of food grains to the Central Pool. Odisha’s own consumption per annum stands at 24 lakh Metric tons of rice and in the current Kharif season, there is an urgent need for evacuation of 30 Lakh Metric Ton of rice by the Food Corporation of India. Till 13th March 2021, the total surplus rice evacuated by the Food Corporation of India stood at 6.65 Lakh Metric Ton. At this current rate, it is not possible to evacuate 30 lakh metric tons of surplus rice by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
If FCI evacuates only 17 lakh Metric ton rice like last year, then Odisha would be saddled with a surplus of 13 lakh Metric ton rice for the present Kharif season itself. This would cause a loss of Rs. 4160 crores to the State of Odisha. Dr. Patra requested through the Chairman to the Government of India to expedite the evacuation of 30 lakh Metric Ton of surplus rice from Odisha in the current Kharif season. Another major aspect related to this rice procurement is the pending subsidy which the Centre should provide to Odisha. Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation has pending subsidy claims towards the provision and advance subsidy totaling Rs. 5616 crores. This amount of Rs. 5615 Crores of pending
subsidy the Centre should provide to Odisha at the earliest.
Therefore, Dr. Patra requested the Government of India through the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha to expedite the evacuation of 30 lakh metric ton of surplus rice by FCI from Odisha at the earliest in this current Kharif season and also to release Rs. 5616 crores of pending subsidy to Odisha at the earliest.
