A CASE STUDY ON ONLINE PADDY PROCUREMENT SYSTEM IN CHHATTISGARH

The Government of Chhattisgarh has initiated a set of reforms to improve its Purchase System of Paddy through marketing societies by adopting a unique ICTbased module to create a transparent and accountable delivery mechanism. As a part of these reforms, the Government of Chhattisgarh in association with the National Informatics Centre has computerized its whole food grain supply chain - from procurement of produce, to storage and transportation, to state warehousing and further transfer to fair priced shops (FPS). To address the leakages in Purchase System, the State of Chhattisgarh implemented an end-to-end information technology solution in 2007. There is continuous monitoring of operations at all levels via reports uploaded onto the web in real time. Web management has led to enhanced accountability of operations. The online platform provides an account of commodity stocks which helps decision makers in utilizing the inventory of commodities with greater efficiency. A unique feature of Paddy Procurement in Chhattisgarh is the innovative for food security of poor and needy, paddy procurement was computerized to bring in much needed transparency and efficiency. The ICT solution being used in Chhattisgarh is showing very encouraging results and states like Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have showed interest in rolling out a similar procedure.