HYDERABAD: Amid mounting arrivals, labour shortages, heatwave conditions and unseasonal rains threatening stocks at procurement centres, Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday announced a “war-like” 10-day special operation to accelerate paddy purchase across Telangana.
Addressing a high-level video conference with district collectors, attended by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and ministers Thummala Nageswara Rao, Ponnam Prabhakar, Jupally Krishna Rao and Adluri Laxman Kumar, Uttam directed officials to complete procurement operations within the next 10 days through intensive field-level action.
The minister said Telangana recorded an estimated 140.81 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy production during the current Rabi season from a record 65.91 lakh acres under cultivation. Total arrivals at procurement centres are expected to touch 70–75 LMT.
“This is not a routine procurement exercise. This is a statewide mission to protect farmers under extremely difficult conditions,” Uttam said, assuring tillers that every grain brought to procurement centres, including rain-drenched paddy, would be purchased.
He stated that while the Union government announces Minimum Support Price (MSP), its procurement support to Telangana remained limited to around 52 LMT, forcing the state government to undertake additional procurement on its own.
As of May 23, procurement centres had received 58.79 LMT of paddy, of which 50.01 LMT had already been procured. Nearly 85% of arrivals had been cleared, while the remaining 8.78 LMT would be cleared within 72 hours, he said. Another 16 LMT is expected from late-harvest districts over the next 10 days.
The minister said the Civil Supplies department was functioning in mission mode with a daily procurement target of 3 LMT. The state government has already released Rs 8,749.82 crore towards MSP payments to farmers.
Uttam also highlighted operational challenges faced during the procurement season, stating that many migrant labourers and rice mill workers from West Bengal had returned to their native states during the recent Assembly elections and had not returned on time, leading to severe labour shortages and delays in transport operations.
State to procure maize, jowar, sunflower
With the Centre yet to respond to repeated requests for procurement of maize, jowar and sunflower crops, the Telangana government has decided to purchase additional produce on its own to prevent distress sales by farmers. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy approved an additional allocation of Rs 1,867.77 crore, taking the total to Rs 6,040.71 crore
