As per latest reports, the government has decided to allow purchase of lentils (masur) and gram (chana) in thirteen states at minimum support price (MSP) during nationwide lockdown without even waiting for any formal proposal from the states regarding the procurement.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in a tweet said that “States can purchase 25 percent of the total production of these commodities at the minimum support price. We have also released Rs 1250 crore for the procurement of 1.71 lakh tonnes of chana & 0.87 lakh tonnes of masur”.
It must be noted that the MSP of chana has been fixed at Rs 4875 per quintal and lentil can be bought at Rs 4800 a quintal.
According to a senior agriculture ministry official, “Government agencies such as NAFED, SFAC & other designated agencies will continue to undertake procurement of chana and masur at MSP. The losses, if any incurred by the nodal agencies in such operations could be fully reimbursed by the Government as per the guidelines”.
The thirteen states, where procurement will start are Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Kerala, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
The Centre has also allowed purchase of food grains during nationwide lockdown by extending exemptions to the procurement operations. For rice and wheat also, government has given go ahead to the states without discussing their purchase targets and plan.
