MADURAI: Due to the negligence of Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) officials, paddy procurement was delayed by over two weeks in Ayyankottai village, alleged a farmer during the agriculture grievance meeting, chaired by District Collector M S Sangeetha, in Madurai on Friday.
M Murugan, a farmer from Ayyankottai village in Vadipatti block, who carried sprouted paddy in his hands, broke out in tears before the collector. Speaking to TNIE, he said, "After months of hard work, we harvested Samba paddy in March. We took the paddy to the local DPC two weeks back. But till date, it has not been procured by TNCSC officials leaving it in the open. For procurement, TNCSC officials had demanded Rs 60-Rs 70/bag. But, since we refused to pay, our paddy was not procured. As it was left in the open for over two weeks, the paddy started to sprout, and a major portion of the paddy has gone waste."
He added that only after the issues were brought to the attention of the collector that around 98 bags of paddy was procured on Friday. Farmers also demanded steps to prevent such issues in all DPCs and strict action against negligent officials. In response, the collector assured to speak with the TNCSC department to depute more officials to address the issues.
Meanwhile, based on a petition submitted by Murugan, TNCSC officials conducted a special inspection inAyyankottai village on Friday. Officials stated that no such issues were found in the area, and procurement was done properly in the DPC. They further alleged that Murugan had made false allegations about the issue.