HYDERABAD: Veeresham, a farmer from Masanpally village in Sangareddy district, did not imagine that this year’s Yasangi paddy procurement at the nearest IKP centre would turn into an effort as painstaking as achieving his yield of 63 bags of paddy.On April 25, he had lodged his serial number at the IKP centre, hoping his load would be lifted and transported to the rice mill. Some of those who registered after him had local political backing, and got their bags cleared in no time, but Veeresham’s paddy took more than a month to be lifted — that too only because he, along with some others, managed to hire a lorry by approaching RTA officials.
“The IKP official was not ready to answer our queries over the delay in procurement and on one instance he got so angry that he came charging at us, as if to assault us,” Veeresham told Express. He hasn’t received payment for selling his paddy yet. Similar cases were seen across Telangana.
Delay in arrival of gunny bags, non-availability of lorries for transport, shortage of hamalis, and millers taking excess paddy per quintal in the name of making up for wastage have culminated in what is being seen at IKP centres across the State.
The pandemic is to be blamed, according to M Srinivas Reddy, Chairman, Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. “Due to Covid scare, lorry drivers and cleaners weren’t easily available. There was a delay in receiving gunny bags from Kolkata, for which we had placed orders in advance. However, we managed with second hand bags and around 6-7 crore bags available from the previous season’s stock,” Reddy said. “Despite all these issues, we met the target for Yasangi procurement. In all major districts, procurement is 99 per cent done,” he added.