Patna: The Bihar government Tuesday approved payment Rs 300 per quintal as bonus for paddy procurement in the state during the 2014 kharif season, an official said.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, Principal Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat) B Pradhan told reporters.
In addition to the payment of Rs 1,300 per quintal to the farmers in lieu of paddy procurement, which has been fixed by the Centre, the farmers in Bihar would get Rs 300 as bonus per quintal for which Rs 400 crore has been set aside from the contingency fund, he said.
The state government has also sanctioned release of Rs 100 crore from the contingency fund for payment of the remainder of bonus to be paid to the farmers for paddy procurement for the Kharif season 2013-14 for which procurement rate was fixed at Rs 250 per quintal, Pradhan said.
The state government had fixed a target of paddy procurement at 30 lakh metric tonnes for the current Kharif season.
Among other decisions, the state government approved bylaws for setting up a committee to run the national dolphin research centre in Bihar, a decision which was taken on February 25, 2012, Pradhan said.
The state government further sanctioned creation of 17 posts for a police outpost to be created at Gandhi Ghat under Pirbahor police station area in the state capital, he added.
