TAD NewsDesk, Tripura: Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath said that the state government will buy 20,000 MT paddy at the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) to boost up the agricultural economy.
Speaking to reporters here, Nath said the state cabinet has decided to go ahead with procuring 20,000 MT paddy at MSP from January 21 across 32 procurement centres spread across eight districts. The process would incur Rs. 5.28 crore milling charge from the state exchequer.
Tripura’s incumbent BJP-IPFT government first procured 27.27 thousand MT paddy from farmers at MSP of Rs 17.50 per kg in 2018, shortly after assuming office. The MSP was later revised to Rs 15 per kg for 21.44 thousand MT paddy while MSP rate has been fixed at Rs 18.68 per kg this year.
In May last year during the Covid lockdown, the Chief Minister of the state Biplab Kumar Deb had promised to procure the crops at the mentioned MSP. This was a step to help the farmers and ensure better prices for the crops in the market.
He also added that emphasizing on the primary sector activities like agriculture, horticulture fisheries, dairy, etc would also help them to fight the adverse impact of the lockdown on the economy.
Apart from the MSP, the government has also focused on some other measures to help the farmers. It includes Rs. 271.33 crore DBT benefits given to 2.30 lakh farmers of Tripura under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.
On the other side, the cabinet has decided to evaluate and consider subsidy applications filed by entrepreneurs under the Tripura Industrial Investment Promotion Incentive Scheme, 2017. The process has been stalled for a long time due to the pandemic. Also, many people could not file their applications before June 30 hence it had to be extended till December 31, the minister explained.
Tripura government is making efforts in different ways to help the farmers and this is an endeavour to uplift the agricultural economy of the place.
Source: The Indian Express
