THANJAVUR: Farmers in the district have urged the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) to revive the paddy procurement centres set up by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which have become defunct after TNCSC took up the procurement operations in 1973. The FCI, which established its first district office in Thanjavur, also built around 10 procurement centres with silos for bulk purchase and covered sheds for paddy bags.
These centres also had dryer facilities. "Even when there were rains, we used to take the paddy with high moisture to the centre, where the officials used to dry the paddy using the dryer and purchase it immediately. The dried paddy will be taken to the silo using a conveyor belt," says G Srinivasan, a veteran farmer from Ganapathy Agraharam village, where once such a procurement centre was located.
"After the TNCSC took over the procurement operations, the equipment and the storage shed made of iron sheets in the centres were in disuse. If these procurement centres are revived, they would create new capacity to procure and store paddy," Srinivasan added.
According to officials of TNCSC, there are around 10 such PPCs, including the ones in Ganapathy Agraharam, Melathiruppanthuruthi and Vandayariruppu. "In the FCI centre at Melathiruppanthuruthi, many iron sheets were already dismantled and taken away," says P Sukumar, a farmer from the area.
In Vandayariruppu centre also, the silo and dryers have been dismantled. Only the old storage shed remains. Officials of TNCSC told TNIE that the lands in which the centres are situated were already transferred to the corporation. However, at present there is no proposal to revive these centres, they added.
