Majhi-led Odisha government to increase paddy MSP to ₹3,100 in 100 days

Odisha BJP government announces increased MSP for paddy and cash vouchers for women, along with temple reforms.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Odisha led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on June 12 announced that it will come up with comprehensive guidelines for the implementation of increased minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to ₹3,100 per quintal and payment of cash vouchers of ₹50,000 to every woman in the next 100 days.

After chairing the first meetings of the Council of Ministers and the Cabinet following his swearing-in, Mr. Majhi said, “We had committed to introducing the Samruddha Krushak Niti Yojana, a progressive agricultural policy, which includes increasing the MSP for paddy to ₹3,100 per quintal. As per the decision, concerned departments will be tasked with developing the necessary guidelines to implement this policy effectively.”

As per the new agricultural policy promised in the BJP manifesto, apart from increasing MSP to ₹3,100, payment will be transferred to farmers within 48 hours through direct benefit transfer and procurement will be done through electronic weighing machines in all mandis. Besides, the party had promised to triple irrigated land and set up ₹3,000 crore Krushi Sangrakshyana Kosha, a fund for improving storage facility.

The Cabinet gave its nod for preparation of a new policy on women empowerment that would enable the government to pay cash vouchers of ₹50,000 per woman which can be encashed over two years. The BJP had promised to create 25 lakh ‘Lakhpati Didis’ (women members of self-help groups) in Odisha by 2027. The policy will be implemented in 100 days.

In what could be symbolic and yet an emotional issue, the Cabinet’s first decision was to open four doors of the Jagannath Temple in Puri from Thursday. To mark this occasion, the newly inducted Ministers travelled to Puri and planned to stay overnight. The temple doors will be opened in their presence.

The previous BJD government had kept only one door open despite persistent calls from devotees and the BJP for all doors to be accessible. The BJP argued that limiting access through a single door caused significant inconvenience to worshippers. The new government also decided to set up a corpus fund of ₹500 crore to deal with any exigencies at the temple.