Paddy procurement moving at a snail’s pace
The Hindu
Farmers in agitation mode at several places
Despite assurances by officials and public representatives, paddy procurement has been moving at a snail’s pace worrying farmers. Any dark cloud has been sending shivers down their spine as paddy spread by some of the farmers got damaged and incurred huge loss.
According to sources, lack of required number of lorries and stock already piled up at rice mills was stated to be one of the reasons for the delay in procurement. At several places farmers had already held protest demanding that the government procure paddy on war footing. On Tuesday also farmers in Medak town and Shamnapur village in Havelighanapur mandal held dharna demanding lorries and lifting of paddy. The dharna was held beyond party lines. It was stated that the paddy sprouted at drying platforms in Jhansilingapur village in Shankarampet mandal. On Monday also farmers held dharna at several places.
Even officials were admitting that there was a delay in paddy procurement. For instance take the case of Medak district. As many as 390 paddy procurement centres (PPC) were established in the district to purchase about 4 lakh metric tonnes of paddy and so far 1.27 lakh metric tonnes was procured.
As speculation over the continuation of Minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare B. Nagendra in the Cabinet persisted, with the demand for his resignation raised by the BJP in connection with the ₹94 crore scam at the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, his Cabinet colleagues came to his defence on Thursday.