State Government had requested Central Government to provide three lakh 50 thousand gunny bags for paddy procurement from farmers in kharif marketing year 2020-21 in Chhattisgarh. Government of India has cut down the supply of gunny bags to Chhattisgarh by 50% and has conveyed information through Jute Commissioner that only one lakh 43 thousand gunny bags would be made available to the state. To ensure that the paddy procurement process in the state doesn’t get affected due to the heavy cut down in supply of bags by Government of India, State Government is procuring new bags of 70 thousand HDPI, PP from GEM portal. Besides, the bags remaining from PDS are also being utilized for paddy procurement.
Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel has given instructions to utilize gunny bags remaining from PDS for paddy procurement. On Chief Minister’s instructions, Food Department has directed all the collectors of the state to collect the gunny bags remaining from PDS and save it for paddy procurement.
It is noteworthy that procurement of about 95 lakh metric tonnes of paddy is estimated in the Kharif marketing year 2020-21. It is expected that 4 lakh 75 thousand gunny bags are required for procurement of paddy. Government of India was requested to provide 3 lakh 50 thousand bales of gunny bags for paddy procurement. On the request of the State Government, the Government of India was informed on 30 July 2020 to supply 3 lakh gunny bags through Jute Commissioner Kolkata. On 9 October, regarding the new jute gunny bags sent by the Government of India, it was informed that the supply of gunny bags to Chhattisgarh has been reduced by 50 percent. Only one lakh 43 thousand bales of gunny bags will be supplied to Chhattisgarh. So far, only 56 thousand bails of gunny bags have been received from the Government of India. To ensure that paddy procurement is not affected by the cut down in supply of gunny bags, state government has given instructions to collect gunny bags left from PDS and the old gunny bags from Miller in the state. In addition, procurement of 70 thousand HDPI, P.P. gunny bags through Gem portal is also in process.
