The Odisha government rejected the Central government’s relaxation of quality norms for procurement of paddy under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism. The state government said even though the Central government has relaxed the Fair Average Quality (FAQ) specifications for the purpose of paddy procurement in 15 districts, it has reduced the MSP, which will affect the farmers. The Centre has relaxed the FAQ norms in the districts where the quality of paddy had deteriorated due to unseasonal rain during last kharif. But, it has reduced the MSP on paddy from existing Rs 1,550 to Rs 1,410 on the discoloured paddy.