Centre to state: submit audit report for Rs 954-cr dues

Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday informed Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy that the Centre will clear the pending dues of Rs 954 crore only after the state government submits the final audit report on procurement of paddy and other crops at MSP.

Kumaraswamy, who called on Paswan to discuss the pending procurement bills from the Centre, assured that the state government officials will come to the national capital next week and clear all queries sought by the Union Food Ministry on the matter.

“The MSP procurement bill of Rs 954 crore is pending with the Centre because some clarification is required from the state. Paswan has assured me that the matter will be resolved at the earliest,” Kumaraswamy told reporters.

In the meeting, Paswan told the chief minister that dues will be cleared and, asked the state to submit the final audit report on the purchase of paddy and other crops at MSP since 2013-14 fiscal.

The state government also demanded that the Centre allow procurement of maize under MSP during 2018-19 without putting a condition of distributing the same under the public distribution system .

To this, Paswan said the state government can approach the Agriculture Ministry for procurement of maize under the Price Support Scheme (PSS).

Paswan also mentioned that the procurement bill of maize is cleared only if the commodity is consumed via PDS.

Kumaraswamy said maize was sown in around 1.29 lakh hectares in the state and the state is expecting a production of 2.12 lakh tonnes in 2018-19.