The National Rice Policy Committee (NRPC) has approved a Bt204 million budget to improve the computer system of state agencies responsible for the rice pledging scheme.
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan said all the agencies would be linked to an online database to enable checking of required documents, and relevant information including the volume of rice in the state’s stockpiles, the locations of rice warehouses and the volume of rice released to the market.
The Warehouse Organisation will be the hub of data and information, which will be shared by the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, Marketing Organisation for Farmers, Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand, Commerce Ministry, Finance Ministry and Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, he said.
The system should be implemented within two months, he said, assuring that the system would prevent corruption in rice purchase and facilitate enforcement of the rice subsidy programme.
