A Committee headed by the Divisional Commissioners of the respective divisions would be formulated for devising mechanism for procurement of paddy from the farmers, mandies, besides also addressing the issues of the mill owners who process the coarse paddy.The directions were given by the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh in a meeting convened to discuss the procurement of coarse foodgrains in the State by the Food Corporation of India.Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Hanjora, Minister for CAPD, Choudhary Zulfkar, Vice Chairman Kissan Development Board, Mr. Daljeet Singh Chib, MLA Marh, Choudhary Sukhnandan, Secretary CAPD, Mr. Shafiq Raina, Director CAPD Kashmir, Tasadul Jeelani, Director Agriculture Kashmir, representatives of the Food Corporation of India were also present.The Deputy Chief Minister directed for constitution of the Committee which would also be having the Director CAPD Jammu, Director Agriculture Jammu, Deputy Commissioners of Jammu, Kathua, Samba and the General Manager Food Corporation of India as its members.
He said that they would ensure that the food grains are procured from the farmers at the rates which would be negotiated so that the wastage of the paddy is stopped besides the farming community of the State would also get benefited by the intervention of the Government. For exploring the possibility a similar Committee would also be set up for the Kashmir Division.It was given out in the meeting that 19 centres for the procurement of the paddy have already set up at different places in Jammu for which the department of Agriculture is providing the full logistic support. It was also told that centres would also be set up in Kashmir Division for the first time so that the paddy can be procured from the farmers.The meeting also decided to take up the issue of procurement of the coarse maize with the Union Government so that the farming community living in the hilly areas of the state would also get benefited by the intervention of the Government. For the same a formal request would also be send for the purpose.