Telangana to procure 65 lakh tonnes of paddy this Yasangi: Gangula

Hyderabad: Civil Supplies Minister G Kamalakar said paddy procurement would commence from Friday across the State and the exercise would be completed by May end or first week of June. This Yasangi season, paddy was cultivated in 34 lakh acres and 65 lakh metric tonnes was expected to arrive at the procurement centres, he said. […]

Hyderabad: Civil Supplies Minister G Kamalakar said paddy procurement would commence from Friday across the State and the exercise would be completed by May end or first week of June.

This Yasangi season, paddy was cultivated in 34 lakh acres and 65 lakh metric tonnes was expected to arrive at the procurement centres, he said.

The Minister specifically informed farmers that the State government would procure the entire stock at MSP of Rs.1,960 per quintal and urged them not to sell their crops in distress.

After conducting a video conference with officials from civil supplies, police and other departments, the Minister addressed media persons here on Wednesday.

All measures were being taken to ensure stocks from other States are not procured at the procurement centres. To this effect, 51 check posts would be established at key locations to prevent entry of stocks from other States, he said.

Soon after farmers arrive at the procurement centres, their details would be displayed on the dashboard and a One Time Password (OTP) would be sent to the farmers, the Minister explained.

Nearly 15 crore gunny bags would be required for the procurement exercise and currently about 1.60 crore bags were available with the department. Steps were being taken to procure the required number of bags immediately, besides transportation facilities to shift the stocks to storage centres, he said.

Since the godowns are controlled by Food Corporation of India (FCI), the Minister directed the officials to store the stocks at convenient locations in respective districts.

Lashing out at State BJP president Bandi Sanjay for claiming that the State government was procuring paddy on account of the saffron party’s pressure, the Minister challenged him to exert pressure on Gujarat government to supply 24 hours free power to farmers.

“Considering the plight of farmers, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao decided to procure paddy from farmers. BJP leaders here should prevail upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ensure that Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima and free power supply are implemented across the nation,” the Minister said, adding: “The Centre is adopting a discriminative approach towards States producing paddy. A conspiracy is being hatched to shut down FCI.”