Two suspended for procurement negligence in Odisha

JAGATSINGHPUR: After receiving complaints of large-scale irregularities in paddy procurement at the purchase centre in Machgaon, Jagatsinghpur collector J Sonal on Saturday placed the nodal officer and the PACS secretary under suspension for negligence of duty.

The officials suspended are nodal officer Mohan Kumar Jena and PACS Machgaon secretary Sisir Kumar Panda. Sources said complaints of widespread irregularities had been coming to light from various centres across the district. Farmers alleged that despite providing FAQ standard paddy, millers had been deducting around 5-7 kg per quintal citing substandard quality.

Due to this, many farmers had also been refraining from selling their stock at the mandis. At Machgaon PACS, nearly 547 farmers have registered to sell their paddy. Last Wednesday, around 11 farmers turned up to sell their stock. Though several of them brought FAQ standard paddy, the millers allegedly forcefully deducted around 5-7 kg per quintal over quality.