HYDERABAD: Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday directed officials to ensure minimum support price (MSP) for farmers and streamline logistics for hassle-free procurement of paddy across the state.
At a review meeting on paddy procurement for the rabi marketing season, the minister stressed the need to shift into “mission mode” to avoid delays and ensure farmer-friendly operations during the peak arrival period.
He said paddy arrivals were picking up in around 20 districts, while procurement was yet to begin in 13 districts where transplantation was delayed. Officials were asked to gear up in advance to handle the expected surge in arrivals.
Highlighting the preparedness of the official machinery, Uttam said logistics were in place to procure up to 90 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. More than 5,000 procurement centres have been opened so far, with plans to operationalise another 3,500-plus centres shortly. So far, 4.89 lakh tonnes of paddy have been procured.
An intermediary storage space for 12 lakh tonnes was identified to address storage needs. District-wise allocation was made for 20 lakh tonnes of boiled rice. Uttam noted that around 16 crore gunny bags had been positioned to meet daily procurement requirements.
He directed officials to ensure that paddy cleaners and dryers were deployed at most procurement centres to tackle moisture-related issues. Stressing the importance of seamless operations, he called for adequate manpower deployment to prevent shortages of labour and gunny bags and avoid delays in quality testing and weighment.
The Civil Supplies minister instructed that transport arrangements be strengthened to ensure timely lifting of procured paddy from centres. He also ordered tighter monitoring at inter-state check posts to prevent the inflow of paddy from neighbouring states into Telangana procurement centres.
Timely payments
Uttam asked officials from Civil Supplies, Marketing and district administrations to work in close coordination. He directed officials to make payments to farmers without delay after procurement.
Reviewing factors contributing to uneven procurement progress across districts, the minister made it clear that all efforts must be directed to ensure there were no backlogs and that the procurement process remained smooth throughout the Rabi season.
Civil Supplies Commissioner Stephen Ravindra was also present at the review.