CHENNAI: Minister for Food and Cooperation R Sakkarapani on Wednesday informed the Assembly that Tamil Nadu has facilities to store 2.73 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrain. He said this after Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami moved a special calling attention motion to highlight how paddy at Direct Procurement Centres (DPCs) was allegedly kept in the open and damaged.
Palaniswami alleged that a large number of paddy bags had been damaged in the delta districts and Madurai due to rain. He further alleged that the State government didn’t provide enough tarpaulin sheets to protect the procured crop.
In response, the minister for food and cooperation denied these charges, saying no paddy was damaged in Mayiladuthurai, Madurai and Siavaganga districts, but the procured crop was stored safely under tarpaulin sheets.
A total of 31,250 tarpaulin sheets were bought and sent to DPCs to protect paddy from the rain, the minister said, adding that the State has 51 godowns to store 2,73,200 metric tonnes of paddy. These facilities now have 1,66,017 metric tonnes of the crop, he added. Sakkarapani further said the open storage centre would not function from October 2023 since all procured paddy would be directly sent to rice mills for hulling.