60.5 lakh tonnes paddy procured in Telangana

With the procurement target set as 80 lakh tonnes, the Corporation is gearing up to purchase another 20 lakh tonnes of paddy before the commencement of Vaanakalam season

Hyderabad: Civil Supplies Corporation procured about 60.5 lakh tonnes of paddy worth Rs 11,414 crore from around 8.82 lakh farmers in the State till Wednesday. With the procurement target set as 80 lakh tonnes, the Corporation is gearing up to purchase another 20 lakh tonnes of paddy before the commencement of Vaanakalam season next month.

Paddy cultivation was taken up in about 52.76 lakh acres in the State. Based on the extent of cultivation, around 1.29 crore tonnes of paddy yield was expected of which the Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation would purchase about 80 lakh tonnes. So far, the officials procured about 60.5 lakh tonnes till Wednesday against 52.73 lakh tonnes purchased during the corresponding period last Yasangi season. As a result, the Corporation has already procured about eight lakh tonne more than last year.

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Speaking to mediapersons after holding a district-wise review on paddy procurement here, the Corporation chairman Mareddy Srinivas Reddy said about 76 per cent of paddy purchases had been completed. In all, 656 procurement centres had been closed after completing the purchases in 12 districts of Nizamabad, Nirmal, Mancherial, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, Jagitial, Rajanna-Sircilla, Peddapalli, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Yadadri Bhongir and Wanaparthy. He stated that the Corporation was ready to procure wet and discoloured paddy, but within the permissible limit of 17 per cent moisture content as per the Central government regulations.

The authorities were instructed to immediately shift the remaining gunny bags from the purchase centres where the paddy procurement has been completed, to other centres as per requirement. “The ration dealers are not returning the empty gunny bags to the Civil Supplies Corporation as per norms. As against 30 lakh bags to be handed over, they returned only 9.44 lakh bags in March and 7.9 lakh bags in April. We have already increased the price of each gunny bag from Rs 18 to Rs 21. In the wake of increasing paddy yield, there is a huge requirement for gunny bags,” Srinivas Reddy said. He directed the ration dealers to sell their empty bags to the Civil Supplies Corporation without fail.

Further, the additional collectors were asked to blacklist contractors who did not arrange vehicles for paddy transportation as per the agreement and initiate measures to select the contractors by inviting tenders for more transparency and efficiency.

Srinivas Reddy also thanked the Chief Minister for recognising the ration and LPG dealers as well as their staff, along with the employees and staff of Civil Supplies Corporation as frontline warriors for administering Covid-19 vaccine.

Civil Supplies Commissioner Anil Kumar and other officials were also present.

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