Telangana buys 30 lakh tonne paddy so far

Hyderabad: Paddy procurement continues unabated in the State with more than 30.1 lakh metric tons of paddy worth Rs 5,888 crore purchased from about 4.72 lakh farmers as on Monday. The procurement will conclude by June 10 as the government appears to be on the right track to reach its target for the Yasangi (Rabi) season.

Notwithstanding the Centre’s refusal to purchase paddy from Telangana State during the Yasangi season citing surplus stocks of parboiled rice, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao decided to procure the entire paddy from farmers. Initially, it had set a target of about 50 lakh metric tons of an estimated total yield of 65 lakh metric tons where the remaining paddy is being sold in the open market.

In a release on Monday, Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar said the State government would suffer a loss of Rs 3,000 crore for procuring the paddy entirely without the Centre’s support. About 10,000 metric tonnes of paddy which got wet during recent unseasonal rains across the State, also has been purchased from farmers who brought the dried crop to the procurement centres. Immediately after procurement, the paddy is being shifted to the rice mills. Stringent action is being initiated against the millers in case they are trying to reduce the rice output in the name of wastage.

“The Centre had not only failed to extend any support, but also created hurdles at every juncture including short supply of gunny bags, stopping procurement in the name of physical verification and other such activities. We have already completed paddy procurement in around 5,000 of total 6,544 procurement centres opened in the State,” the Minister said. The procurement is said to be nearing completion in the districts of Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Nalgonda, Suryapet and Bhadradri Kothagudem, while in other districts, it will be completed by June 10.