CHENNAI: In the wake of complaints that rice traders and touts belonging to Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh were bringing paddy purchased from debt-ridden farmers to Direct Procurement Centres (DPCs), the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) has introduced an additional layer of verification by Revenue Divisional Officers (RDOs).
The RDOs will scrutinise e-adangal and other land-related documents submitted online by farmers for selling paddy at DPCs. So far, these documents were verified by Village Administrative Officers (VAOs) and officials posted at the DPCs.
The additional verification has delayed the opening of DPCs in some districts during the 2026-27 Kharif Marketing Season, which began on September 1, affecting the pace of paddy procurement.
The RDO-level verification will not only plug the scope for malpractice, including manipulation of e-adangal records to falsely show paddy cultivation, but is also expected to prevent paddy procured from other states, as well as old stocks stored at rice mills, from being brought to DPCs and sold at the minimum support price (MSP) in TN.
The state’s procurement price for fine variety paddy is around Rs 350 to Rs 400 higher per quintal than in other southern states, thereby increasing the incentive for malpractice. Currently, the state offers a procurement price of Rs 2,750 per quintal for fine varieties and Rs 2,600 per quintal for common varieties.
“The RDOs will have access to data from the agriculture department, including details such as area under cultivation in each village, seed supply and other details. At the divisional level, we will now be able to ascertain whether the quantity of paddy arriving at DPCs is proportionate to the area officially recorded as cultivated,” said a TNCSC official.
Currently, paddy farmers submit details of their crop cultivation through the e-adangal crop administration portal. After the VAO physically verifies the standing crop, the application is approved. Farmers then submit their adangal, patta and other land documents, along with their bank passbook, at the DPCs to sell their produce.
The payment is subsequently credited to their bank accounts directly within 10 days. Sources said several traders associated with rice mills in TN and neighbouring states purchase paddy from debt-ridden farmers at around Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,000 per quintal and subsequently sell it at DPCs at the MSP, making a margin of nearly 30% to 40%.
“In such cases, traders are suspected of obtaining fake e-adangal certificates showing cultivation in the names of farmers, allegedly in collusion with some VAOs. The new verification system is expected to prevent such malpractice,” the official added.
The introduction of RDO-level verification also delayed the issuance of orders for opening DPCs by the district collectors. “As the Mettur dam was not opened on June 12 this year, Kuruvai cultivation has reduced substantially.
Last year, Kuruvai cultivation alone yielded around 14 lakh MT of paddy, while the production is likely to be considerably lower this year. As Kuruvai cultivation also began late, harvesting is yet to be completed in several areas. Therefore, the delay in opening DPCs has not had a severe impact on farmers,” the official added.
According to official data, 498 DPCs had been opened as of September 21, while another 200 are scheduled to become operational from Wednesday, taking the total number of functional DPCs to around 690 by Thursday. During the corresponding period last year, around 1,050 DPCs were operational.