Ministers ignoring problems at procurement centres: Rythu Sangham

Farmers in Khammam district are facing severe hardships at maize procurement centres due to shortages of gunny bags and transport trucks. Telangana Rythu Sangham district secretary Bonthu Rambabu accused local Ministers of ignoring farmers’ problems, forcing them to bear extra financial burdens.

Khammam: Telangana Rythu Sangham district secretary Bonthu Rambabu alleged that three Ministers in the district were deliberately ignoring the difficulties faced by farmers at maize and grain procurement centres across the district.

Speaking at a district-level meeting of the Sangham here on Thursday, he stated that farmers were enduring severe hardships at procurement centres due to an inadequate supply of gunny bags and transport trucks.

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Farmers were forced to purchase gunny bags at exorbitant prices in the open market to sell their maize produce. Due to the unavailability of trucks and citing delays in the timely unloading of maize sacks, truck owners and drivers were levying additional charges ranging from Rs 30 to Rs 50 per quintal from the farmers. It was a result of the government’s lack of prior planning, he said.

Rambabu noted that a farmer who has harvested 100 quintals of produce ends up bearing an additional financial burden of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.

The process of procuring maize from tenant farmers following their online registration through the marketing department was not being fully implemented in Khammam.

He urged agriculture officials to resolve the issues without delay. Farmers have already sold 80 per cent of paddy they produced at meagre prices; government officials were now struggling to procure the remaining 20 per cent.

Rambabu pointed out that while farmers in the district produced eight lakh tonnes of maize, the government has, to date, procured less than one lakh tonnes. The Ministers in the district should address the issues plaguing the procurement centres, he demanded.