The Bengal government has written a letter to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), urging the central utility to supply 1.98 lakh tonnes of rice to run the cheap grain scheme in the state in February next year.

The letter assumes significance as senior Bengal government officials said the state did not ask the FCI to supply rice for the cheap grain scheme in the recent past since the Mamata Banerjee dispensation had laid stress on the procurement of rice over the past few years.

“The letter indicates the state is worried over the progress of procurement of paddy and apprehends if it depends on the rice milled from the procured paddy, the government might not be able to supply cheap grain to beneficiaries ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. This is why rice has been sought from the Centre,” said a senior government official.

The progress of the procurement that started on November 1 after the harvesting of the kharif (monsoon) season is slow.

“So far, the state could procure 3.38 lakh tonnes of paddy while its target is 70 lakh tonnes. The goal is to cover 80 per cent of the target by February next year. Last year, the state had procured more than 4.50 lakh tons by the same period. So, there is a reason to be worried for the state government,” said another official.

In its letter to the FCI dated November 21, the food and supplies department said because of late monsoon and meagre harvesting of paddy to date, the pace of paddy procurement is comparatively slower than last year and that’s why the state needs the rice from the central utility to run the cheap grain scheme in February next year.

But sources said in the majority of the rice-producing districts, more than 40 per cent of paddy had already been harvested. The procurement of paddy has been hit because of several other reasons.

First, the department could not register on the portal enough farmers who wish to sell their produce to the government.

“The target was to register 25 lakh farmers for the kharif season…. But so far, only 10.37 lakh farmers have registered,” said a source.

The sources cited two reasons behind the poor registration. The majority of farmers lost interest in registering their names as many of them could not sell produce in the last few years as some middlemen had booked the early slots and small and marginal cultivators did not get a chance. They could not hold back their produce for long as they needed to reinvest in the rabi season or had to repay loans.

Also, government officials are checking all documents of the interested farmers before registering their names following the arrest of Jyoti Priya Mallick, former food and supplies minister, on charges of irregularities in the procurement and food grain distribution.

In the past, many farmers’ names had been registered without some of the required documents but this year, the officials are not taking any chances.

Second, the rice mill owners have not shown interest in procuring paddy on behalf of the government since the arrest of Bakibur Rahman, a rice mill owner, on charges of irregularities in the public distribution system.