Purchase of Paddy for Maha Season to Begin After 20th January

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Food Security says that the purchase of paddy for the Maha season will commence after the 20th of this month.

Deputy Minister of Trade, R.M. Jayawardana says that efforts are being made to increase the government rice stocks and expand the sale of rice through Lanka Sathosa outlets.

He adds that measures will be taken to purchase a larger quantity of paddy from farmers, compared to previous years.

The Deputy Minister says that plans are in place to renovate the rice storage facilities that are currently being left unused.

The Deputy Minister also revealed that information has surfaced about the misuse of Rs. 28 Billion allocated for the Paddy Marketing Board, in the past few years.

He added that investigations into these irregularities are underway and that in the future, the Paddy Marketing Board will operate with greater transparency.