In a move aimed at boosting paddy procurement in the state, Chhattisgarh government today announced a bonus of Rs 50 per quintal for paddy purchased at the minimum support price (MSP).
The announcement of the state government is in addition to the bonus of Rs 50 announced by the Union government recently. With this, farmers in Chhattisgarh will stand to get aggregate bonus of Rs 100.
The chief minister, Raman Singh, made the announcement today during the collectors' conference, a senior state government official said. The bonus would be effective from October 12 when paddy procurement started in the state.
The procurement of paddy for at MSP will continue till January 31, 2010. The state marketing federation has set up 1,577 procurement centres to purchase paddy. Earlier, the state government had announced MSP of Rs 950 for a quintal of common variety paddy and Rs 980 for a quintal of Grade-A paddy.
The Chief Minister said that the bonus announced by the state government would bring relief to the farmers as the production was severely hit due to erratic and scanty rainfall in several parts of the state this year.
