Dikhyaa Mohanty 
During his Monday visit to New Delhi, Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo met with Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi to address important matters concerning the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2024–2025. Singh Deo was joined by a number of Odisha lawmakers.
The meeting’s main goal was to persuade the Center to speed up the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) slow evacuation of excess rice. Odisha has registered an all-time high paddy procurement of 92,64,235 metric tonnes this season—equivalent to 62,62,086 metric tonnes of rice—the most in the state’s history.
There is still an excess of around 12 lakh metric tons of rice after accounting for the state’s domestic needs for the Kharif and Rabi seasons. The Deputy CM emphasized that storage capacity and continuing procurement activities are being hampered by FCI’s evacuation delay.
In order to avoid a backlog in the procurement chain, Singh Deo requested Union Minister Joshi to personally step in and expedite the flow of excess rice during the meeting. He added that the Center had already received a letter from Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi requesting immediate action on the matter. Union Minister Joshi gave the group his word that the issue would be investigated immediately and that the required actions would be taken to guarantee that FCI evacuated the area on time.
