UDAIPUR: Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha on Friday formally launched the state’s paddy procurement drive under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme for Kharif Marketing Season 2025-26, at a ceremony held at Kakraban Higher Secondary School in Udaipur sub-division. The state has set a target of procuring 20,710 metric tonnes of paddy this Rabi season.
Organised by the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs in collaboration with the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, the event saw the Chief Minister light a ceremonial lamp to inaugurate the programme, followed by the flagging-off of the procurement drive.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Saha said the government remains committed to ensuring fair prices for farmers and eliminating middlemen from the procurement process, allowing farmers to sell directly to the government with payments credited digitally to bank accounts. He cited distribution of over 2.53 lakh Soil Health Cards and Rs 233.63 crore worth of agricultural inputs under various subsidy schemes as evidence of the government’s farmer-focused approach.
Food Minister Sushanta Chowdhury, also present, called the MSP procurement initiative one of the government’s strongest welfare measures, crediting it with reviving cultivation on previously fallow land while criticising the previous government for lacking similar farmer-welfare programmes.
Among dignitaries present were MLAs Abhishek Debbarma and Jitendra Majumder, Gomati Zilla Parishad Sabhadhipati Debal Debbarma, and senior officials including Udaipur SDM Tridib Sarkar and Gomati DM Rinku Lather. Kakraban Panchayat Samiti Chairperson Supriya Saha presided over the event.