Uttam Kumar Reddy directs officials to streamline MSP operations

Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy announced that paddy arrivals have begun in 20 districts, while procurement is pending in 13 due to delayed transplantation. He urged officials to accelerate MSP operations, strengthen logistics, and ensure timely payments to farmers.

Hyderabad: Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said paddy arrivals had begun picking up in about 20 districts, while procurement was yet to commence in 13 districts where transplantation was delayed.

He wanted officials to gear up in advance to handle the expected surge in arrivals. He also urged officials to accelerate Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations and streamline logistics to ensure hassle-free procurement of paddy from farmers across the State.

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Addressing a review meeting on paddy procurement for the Rabi Marketing Season here on Friday, the Minister stated that logistics were in place to procure up to 90 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy. Over 5,000 procurement centres had already been opened, with plans to operationalise another 3,500 plus centres shortly. So far, 4.89 LMT of paddy has been procured, he said.

To address storage needs, intermediary storage space for 12 LMT has been identified, while district-wise allocation has been made for 20 LMT of boiled rice paddy. Around 16 crore gunny bags have been positioned to meet daily procurement requirements.

He directed officials to ensure that paddy cleaners and dryers were deployed at most procurement centres to tackle moisture-related issues.

Stressing the importance of seamless operations, he called for adequate manpower deployment to prevent shortages of labour and gunny bags, and to avoid delays in quality testing and weighment. Transport arrangements should be strengthened to ensure timely lifting of procured paddy from centres, he stressed.

The Minister ordered tighter monitoring at inter-State check posts to prevent the inflow of paddy from neighbouring states into Telangana procurement centres. He emphasized that farmers must receive payments without delay.