Cooperative Minister's Counterattack on Ashok Gehlot's Statement on Groundnut Procurement

Udaipur: The state's Cooperative and Civil Aviation Minister, Gautam Kumar Dak, has responded strongly to former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's statement regarding groundnut procurement. Dak stated that Gehlot's remarks about the state's government’s negligence towards farmers and the losses faced by groundnut farmers were completely false and baseless. He advised Gehlot to first look into his own actions.

The Cooperative Minister stated that in the year 2024-25, approximately 3.72 lakh metric tons of groundnuts have been procured at the support price in the state, marking the highest procurement in the last five years. He added that over 1.33 lakh farmers had registered for groundnut procurement, and more than 1 lakh farmers have already sold their produce. As of now, about ₹2,527 crore worth of groundnuts have been procured, and ₹1,535 crore has been paid to the farmers.

Dak compared these figures with those from the previous Gehlot government, stating that in 2020-21, only 73,000 metric tons of groundnuts were procured from 31,720 farmers, totaling ₹389.43 crore. In 2021-22, just 53,000 metric tons were procured from 23,562 farmers for ₹295 crore. Similarly, in 2022-23, only 1,012 metric tons were purchased from 571 farmers for ₹5.92 crore, and in 2023-24, 46,000 metric tons were procured from 19,272 farmers for ₹296.23 crore.

The Cooperative Minister concluded that the current government has procured more groundnuts in one year than the total procurement during the entire four-year tenure of the Gehlot government.