RANIPET/TIRUVANNAMALAI: The Ranipet district administration has initiated a slew of measures to check irregularities in paddy procurement.
The move comes in the wake of certain irregularities coming to the fore in the district leading to the suspension of eight officials, including a regional manager, of Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) in operating direct procurement centres (DPCs) for purchasing paddy directly from rice producers,.
Adangal certification is made mandatory for all entries of loads of paddy into the centres. Local Revenue department officials, including Revenue Inspectors (RI) and Tahsildars, will hold surprise checks at DPCs to verify the genuineness of the certifications and ascertain whether the farmer, in whose name paddy has been registered, is really cultivating the food crop.
“We have initiated certain steps to check the smooth functioning of the DPCs. Adangal is made compulsory for farmers to bring paddy into the centres. Village administrative officers are instructed not to give adangal certificates to those who do not cultivate paddy. RIs and Tahsildars have been directed to hold surprise checks,” Ranipet district collector AR Gladstone Pushparaj told TNIE.
He added, “The VAOs have been given a strict warning against giving bogus certification for farmers or for traders in the name of farmers who own landholdings but not cultivating paddy. This will largely help arrest misuse of certification by profiteers.”
Saying that the DPCs will be established in villages in accordance with the area of paddy cultivation, the collector informed that the plea for setting up a modern rice mill by the government will be considered.
In Ranipet district, paddy was cultivated in 19000 hectares since January this year and 79 DPCs were operated. However, the number of the centres was halved as the output decreased. The acreage for the current season is 8800 hectares.
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Rice producers decried recently about irregularities committed by certain officials of TNCSC and wanted stringent measures to streamline the functioning of the DPCs. An inquiry held by the joint managing director of TNCSC found out irregularities in certain DPCs and recommended action against the responsible authorities. Subsequently, eight employees of TNCSC, including the regional manager Nagarajan, a deputy regional manager and three superintendents, were placed under suspension.
Farmer leaders have sought radical changes in the operation of the DPCs. LC Mani, president of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, says, “The first step to improving the functioning of DPCs is that the government itself should manage the centres instead of leaving it to farmers. There is a nexus between certain farmers, local politicians and government officers. They allow traders to sell paddy in the name of farmers and make a profit. So, this nexus should be broken.”
Permanent structures with roofed storage facilities must be set up for the DPCs so that the paddy piled up would not get affected during rains, he stated.
Meanwhile, Tiruvannamalai district collector B Murugesh informed that 25 DPCs will be set up the in the district from 16 August to enable procurement of paddy harvested in the Sornavari season. The farmers can register their names through tvmdpc.com by submitting necessary documents. The registration will begin on 13 August.
He informed that paddy was cultivated in 24500 hectares in the Sornavari season and a yield of 1,47,000 tons is expected.