Odisha house committee to meet Modi seeking paddy MSP hike

Bhubaneswar, March 25 : A house committee, led by the assembly Speaker, will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand increase of Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy, Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy said on Saturday.

The assembly on Saturday unanimously passed a resolution seeking a hike in paddy MSP to Rs 2,930 per quintal.

Maharathy said the house committee would be set up before the end of the Budget session to meet the Prime Minister and the unanimous resolution would be submitted to him fixing a suitable date in future.

The committee will have MLAs from all the parties including BJD, BJP and Congress, he added.

Earlier, the minister told the House that the state government for the last three years have been recommending hiking the MSP to Rs 2,500 per quintal of paddy to the Centre.

However, Leader of Opposition Narasingh Mishra demanded to increase the MSP citing that Modi in the last general election's party manifesto had promised to increase it.