THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR,
FEBRUARY 18, 2026
As many as 394 women Self-Help
Groups have been entrusted with paddy procurement responsibilities in Odisha
for the 2025–26 season, the Assembly was informed.
Food Supplies and Consumer
Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra said the procurement operations this
year are being carried out through 2,777 PACS and LAMPS, 394 women SHGs, and 7
pani panchayats, reflecting an increased role of community institutions in the
state’s decentralised procurement system.
Ganjam district has the highest
participation of women SHGs with 133 groups engaged in procurement, followed by
Bhadrak with 46, Jajpur with 42, and Nayagarh with 37. However, twelve
districts currently have no SHG involvement in the procurement process, while
Boudh and Kandhamal have only one group each.
Among cooperative societies, Ganjam leads with 371 PACS/LAMPS, followed by Cuttack with 223 and Puri with 193, whereas Malkangiri has the lowest at eight and Nabarangpur has thirteen. Of the seven pani panchayats involved, three are located in Koraput, two in Nabarangpur, and one each in Sundargarh and Ganjam.
The engagement of women SHGs is seen as a step toward strengthening grassroots participation and improving procurement efficiency while promoting women’s economic empowerment in rural Odisha.
