Raipur. Leader of Opposition in Chhattisgarh Assembly Dr. Charandas Mahant has written a letter to the Governor today. In which he has described the gunny bags purchased for the Kharif marketing year 2024-25 as substandard. On this matter, Leader of Opposition Dr. Mahant has urged the Governor to immediately direct the Food Minister and Cooperative Minister to take action as per the instructions of the Government of India.Leader of Opposition Dr. Charandas Mahant termed the sacks purchased from Shri Gauri Shankar Jute Mill, West Bengal for paddy procurement as substandard and said that the paddy procurement work is going on at a fast pace. I had inspected the paddy procurement center Tarenga in Balodabazar-Bhatapara district. On weighing many of the new jute sacks being used at this paddy procurement center, it was found that the maximum weight of all sacks was 480 grams. According to the standards set by the Government of India, the average minimum weight of new jute sacks should be 580 grams. The deviation in this weight is 8 and 6 percent, i.e. sacks weighing more than 626 grams and less than 545 grams will be considered substandard. Also, substandard sacks cannot be used for paddy and rice.
More paddy is being taken from farmers due to less weight of gunny bags
Leader of Opposition Dr. Charandas Mahant said that all the sacks whose weight was found to be less at the paddy procurement centre Tarenga were manufactured by Shri Gauri Shankar Jute Mill, West Bengal. The sacks purchased from this mill must have been sent to many more paddy procurement centres.
There are three levels of quality check:-
(1) At the jute mill level
(2) Jute Commissioner of Inquiry
(3) By Government of India in Chhattisgarh marketing federation at rack point and centre in-charge at paddy procurement centre
Even after investigation at these levels, it is surprising that the fact of non-standard gunny bags was ignored at all levels. This is a serious matter. Due to the low weight of gunny bags, the paddy of the farmers is also being taken in excess. Leader of Opposition Mahant has requested the Governor to direct the Food Minister and the Cooperative Minister to take action as per the instructions of the Government of India.
