The Odisha government has urged the Centre to immediately release the outstanding food subsidy of Rs 14,249.07 crore and cautioned that delay in release would hamper the rice procurement process.

The outstanding food subsidy includes Rs 5,027.36 crore of provisional subsidy claims upto third quarter (October-December) and Rs 1,469.78 crore of unpaid advance subsidy claim bills for the fourth quarter (January-March) of the financial year 2022-23.

In a letter to Union minister of consumer affairs, food & public distribution, Piyush Goyal, Odisha minister for food supply and consumer welfare, cooperation, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, said: “As per MoU, there has to be zero financial liability on the procuring agencies with regard to permissible items of cost to be borne by Govt. of India.

The anticipated cost is required to be released in the form of advance subsidy at the rate of 90% of admissible claim on quantity basis in the first month of every quarter.

Further, the State Government/ OSCSC (Odisha Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd) shall be paid quarterly provisional subsidy after deduction of advance amount. But, the release of advance and provisional subsidy to Odisha is highly irregular.”

OSCSC is the state’s nodal agency that procures paddy at MSP from the farmers and undertakes the food grains distribution under the National Food Security Act and other welfare schemes.

He said: “The delay and short release of subsidy has put OSCSC Ltd in tremendous financial hardship on two accounts, because of non-recoupment of interest and liquidity crunch to manage the procurement operations.”

Nayak said: “Since all the resources including the sanctioned limit of bank finance have already been exhausted, further paddy procurement may be severely affected if the subsidy from the Centre is not received at the earliest.”