CHENNAI: Minister for Food and Civil Supplies R Sakkarapani said minimising the loss of paddy was the government’s primary objective last year, as wastage of procured paddy not only causes financial loss to the state exchequer but also affects the livelihood of farmers. Storage facilities are crucial for improving the efficiency of the supply chain of foodgrains, the minister told TNIE.
Here are the excerpts of an interview with the minister
The deterioration of paddy at storage centres has been a persistent problem in the food industry. Can you elaborate on the measures taken by the government?
The paddy bags at direct procurement centres have traditionally been stored in the open which has led to spoilage due to rain and weather conditions. To address this issue, we have constructed 213 modern paddy storage centres equipped with structural roofing and with a combined storage capacity of 2.86 lakh metric tonnes.
These facilities located in 18 districts have effectively reduced the annual loss of paddy worth Rs 270 crore. Additionally, we have also saved a few crores of wages for loading and unloading at open storage centres. Between September 2022 and April this year, 31.46 lakh tonnes of paddy were procured from 4.12 lakh farmers, resulting in a total settlement of Rs 6,510 crore.
In many instances, spoilage occurs as the paddy is stored for an extended period before being sent to rice mills for hulling. Do you have any plans to reduce this gap?
We have decided to establish modern rice mills in seven districts including Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Cuddalore, Theni, Madurai, and other locations. These modern mills will have the capacity to handle 2,700 MT of rice per day and will completely mechanise the hulling process.
Farmers have been demanding to enhance the minimum support price for paddy. Any comments ?
We are expecting an announcement on a hike in MSP by the Union government in the coming months and our aim is to achieve an MSP of Rs 2,500 by the end of our tenure.
Farmers have reported incidents of bribery at DPCs across the state. Can you outline the steps been taken to address this problem?
In the previous season, we have taken disciplinary measures against approximately 40 DPC employees, with five of them facing legal action. We have also allocated Rs 83 crore towards the salaries of assistants, bill collectors, and other personnel. Furthermore, we have displayed the helpline number 1800-599-3540 prominently at every DPC.
To ensure zero wastage of foodgrains, the state government plans to package PDS rice in 5 to 10 kg bags before distributing them to ration card holders; rice apart, the govt is also mulling packaging of pulses, wheat and sugar, and introducing computerised billing to tackle complaints regarding underweight products