Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has decided to relax FAQ norms for procurement of paddy in 15 districts of Odisha…
Union Home Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. (Photo: Twitter)
Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has decided to relax FAQ norms for procurement of paddy in 15 districts of Odisha to faciitate farmers affected by unexpected unseasonal rains. Replying to a letter of his cabinet colleague Dharmendra Pradhan, Mr Paswan stated that the government•is committed to the welfare of farmers and any such proposal shall be given top priority, if such situation arises in future also.
Pradhan had written to Paswan in this regard in January. A team of quality control officers of the Food Corporation of India had visited and assessed the quality of paddy in the affected districts of Odisha. Strangely, Paswan had ignored similar requests made by the state government earlier and the state Food Minister Suryanarayan Patra said on Wednesday that there was no reply to his request for FAQ relaxation till date.
The BJD leaders here pointed out at the politics behind such a move and said, “When we raised the issue Paswan remained mum and the central government had taken the stand that MSP on paddy cannot be revised nor can quality norms be changed for one state.” on Wednesday, the BJP wants to somehow score political points and enable Pradhan to claim credit of having relaxed FAQ norms for Odisha farmers, chided the BJD government here.
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