The Bihar government has exceeded the target set up for procurement of foodgrains from farmers by by purchasing 3.43 lakh tonnes of grains till January end.
The government had set a target to purchase 3 lakh tonne of grains during the period.
A total of 2.75 lakh tonnes of grains was procured by the government by January end in 2011-12 fiscal, state Food Minister Shyam Rajak said.
The Nitish Kumar government has set a target to procure 30 lakh tonne of foodgrains by April this year.
The process of purchase of produce from the farmers have picked up with the easing of winter when grains are not in good condition due to moisture.
"We will achieve the procurement target within time," Rajak said.
The official figures reveal that procurement by the end of January was maximum in Magadh region comprising Gaya, Jehanabad, Arwal, Nawada and Aurangabad with lifting of 68,928 tonne of grains against the target of 42,800 tonne.
The minister said as part of efforts to augment storage capacity for foodgrains the state government has sanctioned creation of 500 tonne capacity godown in all the blocks of the state.
A total of 423 godowns would be established across the state of which 300 have already been achieved, he said.
Rajak said the department was taking effective steps for strengthening distribution of subsidised foodgrains through 42,000 ration shops in the state.
To streamline the PDS functioning, the government has ordered observation of "Foodgrains diwas (day)" across the state during last three days of every month.
Though the Union government is providing ration to 65 lakh BPL and APL beneficiaries in Bihar, the state government is providing subsidised ration to 80 lakh more people from its own kitty as according to its count, on the basis of Saxena committee and Tendulkar committee, there are 1.45 crore eligible people for subsidised ration in the state.
The government had set a target to purchase 3 lakh tonne of grains during the period.
A total of 2.75 lakh tonnes of grains was procured by the government by January end in 2011-12 fiscal, state Food Minister Shyam Rajak said.
The Nitish Kumar government has set a target to procure 30 lakh tonne of foodgrains by April this year.
The process of purchase of produce from the farmers have picked up with the easing of winter when grains are not in good condition due to moisture.
"We will achieve the procurement target within time," Rajak said.
The official figures reveal that procurement by the end of January was maximum in Magadh region comprising Gaya, Jehanabad, Arwal, Nawada and Aurangabad with lifting of 68,928 tonne of grains against the target of 42,800 tonne.
The minister said as part of efforts to augment storage capacity for foodgrains the state government has sanctioned creation of 500 tonne capacity godown in all the blocks of the state.
A total of 423 godowns would be established across the state of which 300 have already been achieved, he said.
Rajak said the department was taking effective steps for strengthening distribution of subsidised foodgrains through 42,000 ration shops in the state.
To streamline the PDS functioning, the government has ordered observation of "Foodgrains diwas (day)" across the state during last three days of every month.
Though the Union government is providing ration to 65 lakh BPL and APL beneficiaries in Bihar, the state government is providing subsidised ration to 80 lakh more people from its own kitty as according to its count, on the basis of Saxena committee and Tendulkar committee, there are 1.45 crore eligible people for subsidised ration in the state.
