# India

Rajasthan CM assures assembly of purchasing millet at MSP

Clarifying a question about the purchase of millet during the Question Hour in the Assembly, he stated that the state government has sent a letter to the central government in this regard.

Statesman News Service | Jaipur | July 26, 2024 6:18 pm

Rajasthan CM assures assembly of purchasing millet at MSP

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma assured the state assembly on Friday that the government will consider purchasing millet at the minimum support price (MSP) in the interest of the state’s farmers.

Clarifying a question about the purchase of millet during the Question Hour in the Assembly, he stated that the state government has sent a letter to the central government in this regard.

The CM stated that during the five-year tenure of the previous government, the state’s farmers were cheated as the millet crop was not purchased at MSP.

Sharma said that during the previous government’s tenure, millet farmers were forced to sell their crop at Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 per quintal, while millet from farmers of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh was sold at Rs 2,300 per quintal.

He told the assembly, “Our government does what it says. The first crop of millet will come after the formation of the current government. We will make every effort to benefit the farmers”.

Earlier, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sumit Godara, in response to a supplementary question by Dr Ritu Banawat regarding the production and purchase of millet, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was promoting ‘shri-ann’ in the country and abroad. The state government under the leadership of the Chief Minister was also committed to promoting ‘shri-ann’, he added.

Earlier, Godara responded to an unstarred question, stating that 59,18,718 tonnes of millet were produced in the state in 2022-23, and 43,82,760 metric tonnes were produced in 2023-24.

He informed that during the Kharif marketing season of the year 2022-23 and 2023-24, no target for purchasing millet at the minimum support price was set in the state. As a result, no purchases were made. He added that a target for purchasing at the minimum support price has not been set for the Kharif crop of 2024.