Businessmen pretending to be farmers availed benefits of MSP in last paddy procurement season, says Jharkhand Minister

Jharkhand's Food and Public Distribution and Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon on Monday said that around 65,000 people who sold paddy to the state government under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) during the previous financial year are under scanner for allegedly swindling the government by pretending to be farmers.

While speaking to ANI, Oraon said, "I think some businessmen have entered into to make a profit under MSP scheme. I believe some businessmen took benefit of MSP in the last paddy procurement season. It was found that 65,000 people, who possess ration cards, sold 200-300 quintals of paddy. Action will be taken against such sellers."

" I know there's no such farmer in Jharkhand who can sell a thousand quintals of paddy. To rectify such problems, we have to take care of 200 quintals. So that small and medium-scale farmers can avail benefits of MSP. We were surprised to see 102 per cent of the target was procured. Hence review was done and all these were caught."

( With inputs from ANI )