Paddy to be procured from villages in Telangana, again

The Chief Minister, who held a high-level review meeting, said it was decided to procure paddy from villages, as was done last year, in view of the increasing cases of Covid-19.

Hyderabad: Coming to the rescue of the farming community in Telangana State once again in these troubled times, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday announced that the government would set up 6,408 procurement centres in villages across the State to purchase paddy from farmers.

The Chief Minister, who held a high-level review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan on Agriculture, Marketing and Civil Supplies departments, said it was decided to procure paddy from villages, as was done last year, in view of the increasing cases of Covid-19.

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Initiating quick action, Chandrashekhar Rao instructed Principal Secretary (Finance) Ramakrishna Rao to make all arrangements to provide Rs 20,000 crore bank guarantee by Tuesday evening. He also instructed Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to conduct an emergency video-conference with all the District Collectors for the setting up of procurement centres in the districts.

The Chief Minister directed Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy to be stationed in Hyderabad and monitor the setting up of the procurement centres as well as the procurement process. The Minister and Chief Secretary were also asked to take all precautions to ensure that farmers are not put to any difficulty during the procurement process.

Stating that 2,131 of the 6,408 procurement centres would be set up in IKP Centres, he said another 3,964 would be set up in PACS centres and the remaining 313 in other places. The Chief Minister was categorical in stating that the Minimum Support Price should be implemented in all the procurement centres. The farmers, he said, should ensure that the paddy they bring to the centres do not have more than 17 per cent moisture.

“The farmers should ensure that the moisture percentage is low besides following all the conditions of MSP,” Chandrashekhar Rao said, and instructed the officials concerned to keep 20 crore gunny bags ready at the procurement centres.

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