T.N. Civil Supplies Corporation explores possibility of using SHGs for paddy procurement

TNCSC explores self-help groups for paddy procurement in Cauvery delta amidst corruption concerns, considering IPS officer for vigilance.

The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC), concerned over complaints of corruption at direct purchase centres (DPC) for paddy procurement in the Cauvery delta, is exploring the possibility of tapping the services of self-help groups for procurement. 

It is also receptive to the idea of having a senior officer of the Indian Police Service to head its vigilance wing, which is now led by an additional registrar of cooperative societies.

On Monday (February 17, 2025), The Hindu published a detailed account of the problem of farmers in the delta having to shell out ₹1 per kg of paddy procured from them at the DPC. As the DPCs set up by the TNCSC in the delta are viewed by several sections of farmers as “hubs of corruption,” the Tamil Nadu government has been studying different proposals to tide over the problem.  

The importance of the delta during paddy procurement can be seen from the fact that the region, constituting 10 districts, accounts for at least 80% of the total paddy procurement made in the State, going by the data for the years from  2011-12 to  2020-21, and  the current year.  Within the region, the share of the composite Thanjavur district - Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai - is around 85% In other words, out of the procurement made across Tamil Nadu, the share of the four districts is in the range of 67% to 68% or about two-thirds.  

Referring to the role being played by the National Cooperative Consumer’s Federation (NCCF), a 50-year-old body of consumer cooperatives registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, in procuring paddy from non-Cauvery delta districts, a government official says there has not been much complaint from the farmers with regard to corruption in these districts.  However, there is also opposition to the NCCF procuring paddy, as critics contend that “lack of infrastructure” on the part of the Federation forces the body to rely on intermediary agencies for procurement, which would, in turn, come in the way of complete procurement.

When suggested why Farmers’ Producers’ Organisations (FPOs) should not  be allowed to procure paddy, as is being done in the case of NCCF, a senior official of the TNCSC apprehends such a move will lead to complications, as the FPOs would take paddy with “higher moisture content.”

But, G. Ajeethan, technical secretary of Consortium of Indian Farmers’ Associations, does not agree with this criticism. He points out that if post-harvest activities are carried out by mechanisation, which plays a huge role in agricultural operations up to harvest,  the problem of higher moisture content will be overcome.