Union Minister Goyal accuses Chhattisgarh govt of lying over paddy procurement; baseless allegations, says CM

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was lying over paddy procurement in the state.

Goyal said the Congress government in Chhattisgarh was seeking an increase in quota of rice for 2023-24 to the Food Corporation of India under the Central pool despite failing to deposit its complete quota for 2022-23.

Addressing a press conference here, the Union minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution said the state's Congress government was resorting to lies and deceit and would be ousted in Assembly polls to be held at the end of the year.

Surprisingly, CM Baghel, in a letter recently written to him, demanded to increase the quota of rice deposited under the Central pool by the state from 61 lakh MT (LMT) to 86.50 lakh MT in 2023-24, Goyal said.

In 2022-23, the state government should have deposited 61 LMT rice to the FCI under the scheme, but it has so far supplied just 53 lakh metric tons, while the deadline for depositing rice is September 30, Goyal added.

When it has not been able to deposit the complete quota of rice allotted for the previous year with FCI, then how come it is asking to increase the quota this year, he said.

Further, the state government, in the previous kharif marketing year, had estimated to procure 138 LMT of paddy from farmers in the state but had procured 107 LMT. he said.

This year the estimation is at 136 LMT, which is less than the last year's estimated quantity, he said.

The state government itself says the estimated quantity of procurement has declined but it is still seeking a hike in the quota of rice for the state in the Central pool, he said.

The chief minister has raised the limits of paddy to be procured from farmers this year from 15 quintals per acre to 20 quintals per acre at minimum support price (MSP), but official data on the website of Chhattisgarh's agriculture department shows an average output of just 13 quintals per acre in the state, Goyal pointed out.

The state's demand for increasing the quota of rice to 86 LMT raises suspicions of wrongdoing and it seems the Baghel government is trying to dispose of rice from adjoining areas (neighbouring states) and commit corruption, Goyal alleged.

The Union minister said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Central government and the Chhattisgarh government on paddy procurement already has a clause that the state can hand over surplus stock of rice to FCI.

The Union government is ready to accept even 100 LMT of rice from the state but the state government should first deposit its pending quota of the rice to the FCI, Goyal said.

The Central food department had carried out inspection of fair price shops in the state in May this year and irregularities were found in stock of 65,701 LMT of rice, after which 208 FPS were cancelled, 285 FPS were suspended and 22 FIRs were lodged, he informed.

Highlighting the pro-farmers initiatives of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government, Goyal said the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy was hiked by Rs 800 in the last nine years.

Hitting back, CM Baghel said baseless allegations are being hurled in view of upcoming elections.

Central government officials had last time conducted an inspection and now during elections, only baseless allegations are being levelled, he claimed.

''We have linked everything with Aadhaar card to ration card. Everyone is getting rations. In those shops where shortcomings were found, the state government has already taken action. Now they are just levelling allegations in view of elections,'' Baghel said.