Raipur, March 10 The opposition Congress on Tuesday alleged a loss of Rs 8,500 crore in Chhattisgarh's paddy procurement process, a charge the state government denied, sparking uproar in the state assembly that led to the brief suspension of 30 MLAs.
The opposition legislators were briefly suspended after they entered the well of the House, demanding a discussion on the issue through an adjournment motion notice.
Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Leader of Opposition Charan Das Mahant alleged that the government had failed to ensure proper storage and protection of paddy procured at the minimum support price.
He claimed that out of 149.25 lakh metric tonnes of paddy procured during the 2024-25 kharif marketing season, 22.71 lakh quintals were yet to be disposed of as per the department's citizen report.
The paddy was no longer of fair average quality and had either been eaten by rats, sold by corrupt officials, or destroyed due to poor storage and maintenance, the Congress leader alleged.
He said 16.03 lakh quintals were missing from storage centres run by the marketing federation and 6.67 lakh quintals from procurement centres.
Mahant also claimed that the Centre had refused to accept surplus rice from Chhattisgarh, forcing the state to sell 1.83 crore quintals of paddy at nearly 50 per cent below the cost price.
He alleged that 128.61 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in 2024-25 were handed over to custom millers, but only 79.69 lakh metric tonnes of rice had been deposited in return, leaving a shortfall of about 6.48 lakh metric tonnes of rice — equivalent to nearly 9.67 lakh metric tonnes of paddy worth around Rs 3,869 crore.
"These factors together have caused a loss of at least Rs 8,500 crore to the state," Congress legislators claimed, demanding a probe into the matter and strict action against those responsible.
Mahant, former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and other Congress MLAs sought a discussion on the issue by moving an adjournment motion notice.
Responding to the allegations, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dayaldas Baghel said it was incorrect to claim that the state had suffered huge losses due to misgovernance or corruption in the paddy procurement scheme.
He said that during the 2024-25 kharif marketing season, the state procured 149.25 lakh tonnes of paddy from 25.49 lakh farmers at the minimum support price declared by the Centre, paying Rs 34,349 crore in MSP and Rs 11,928 crore under the Krishak Unnati Yojana, taking the total payment to farmers to Rs 46,277 crore.
The minister said that Chhattisgarh was the first state in the country to provide the highest price of Rs 3,100 per quintal for paddy, including bonus, under the procurement system.
He noted that April 30 had been set as the final deadline for disposal of paddy procured in the 2024-25 season, and the process was currently underway.
The minister said 18.36 lakh tonnes of surplus paddy had already been disposed of through online auctions, around 1.60 lakh tonnes remained in storage centres and 67,000 tonnes at procurement centres, which is less than three per cent of the total procurement.
He further rejected allegations that the paddy had been eaten by rats or sold by corrupt officials, asserting that it was being stored safely with proper arrangements, including covers and pest control measures.
Dayaldas Baghel said stock verification had been completed at 2,728 of the 2,739 procurement centres, while the process was underway at the remaining 11 centres.
Notices had been issued to 78 storage centre in-charges and district marketing officials over storage losses, cases had been registered against two storage centre in-charges, and two more officials were suspended, he said.
After the minister's reply, the chair disallowed the adjournment motion notice. Dissatisfied, Congress MLAs raised slogans and entered the well of the House, following which the chair announced suspension of 30 members.
The suspension was later revoked.