Now, Gujarat starts online purchase of groundnuts at MSP

Gujarat government has announced that purchase of one lakh metric ton groundnuts at minimum support price (MSP) has started across 22 districts of the state. Agriculture minister RC Faldu said the purchase would continue till March 9.

"The government has given priority to farmers who could not sell their produce in last round as they could not do online registration. The farmers who registered them online are allowed only. The central government has given permission to purchase additional one lakh metric ton groundnuts. We will send proposal to centre," Faldu said.

"The purchase of groundnuts will be done under the surveillance of CCTV," Faldu added. During the last rounds of purchase of groundnuts, irregularities were reported, in which lower standard groundnuts mixed with soil and pebbles were filled in sacks. An incident of thousands of tonnes of groundnuts gutted in godown near Gondal town in Rajkot district also was reported.

The opposition, however, smelled a rat in this and said that BJP would facilitate their people to make money out of this. The leader of opposition in Gujarat assembly Paresh Dhanani said, "Against production of 32 lakh MT groundnuts, only eight lakh metric tone has been purchased and I have doubt that middlemen having links with BJP leaders made money out of this and benefit could not percolate to farmers. The government has not paid a single penny to the cooperative society of farmers for handling the process."

FURY OF FARMERS

• Farmers in Rajkot protested this fresh round of purchase saying that the agency did not purchase their produce as they were not registered online.
   
• The farmers alleged that there were hardly 300 farmers in Rajkot who registered online.