MADURAI: Farmers have alleged that inadequate monitoring by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC), traders starting to sell paddy illegally at Direct Procurement Centre’s (DPCs) have delayed the procurement process. They have also urged the government to take action against the issue.
However, refusing the allegations, official sources from TNCSC said that frequent inspections are being done by the department.
With the summer paddy cultivation nearing completion, the TNCSC has opened nearly 18 DPCs for procuring the summer paddy in Madurai. The farmers have raised allegations about issues in selling their paddy at these centres. Speaking about the issue, Manikandan, a farmer leader from Usilampatti, said, “Despite submitting a series of petitions about issues in DPCs, including traders selling their paddy, no actions were taken by the department concerned. Even now, many farmers are forced to wait for nearly a week to sell their paddy at DPCs.
Also, owing to the shortage of workers, DPC procurement is done at a slower pace in the district. Hence, the government should frequently monitor DPCs to prevent such issues and help farmers sell their produce at DPCs.”
A senior TNCSC official from Madurai told TNIE, “At present, about 18 DPCs are procuring paddy, and five more centre’s are to be opened. The civil supplies department vigilance unit is monitoring the DPCs to prevent illegal issues, and also, a TNCSC team conducts inspections periodically at these centres. If traders are found selling paddy, they are immediately returned to them.”
Notably, officials from the civil supplies department said that so far about 1.22 lakh metric tonnes of paddy have been procured in Madurai for the Kharif Marketing Season 2024-25 (KMS season usually commences from October to September).
A TNCSC official said, “Comparing with the previous two years, procurement this year has notably increased. In 2023-24, about 85k metric tonnes were procured, and in 2022-23, about 1.08 lakh metric tonnes were procured.”