Uttam for seamless paddy procurement this season

Uttam for seamless paddy procurement this season

HYDERABAD

Minister for Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has asked the officials of the Civil Supplies Corporation to ensure a smooth and flawless paddy procurement exercise across Telangana. Of the 7,572 purchase centres planned to procure nearly 1.5 crore tonnes of grain, 4,598 have already been opened, he said.

In a video conference with District Collectors on Saturday, he told the officials to plan procurement meticulously, as the stocks of grain had already started arriving in large quantities.

Commissioner of the Civil Supplies Corporation D.S. Chauhan, Joint Secretary Priyanka Ala, Director of Agricultural Marketing P. Uday Kumar and others attended.

The Minister said that production was estimated at 150 lakh tonnes this season. Against the requirement of about ₹30,000 crore for the purpose, the State had allocated ₹20,000 crore already.

In the wake of untimely rains, he instructed officials to equip all procurement centres with the necessary infrastructure to prevent crop loss. “We are authorising District Collectors to take immediate and decisive action. The government will reimburse expenses later, if required,” he said.

Seeking cooperation from millers in expeditious processing, he said it would enable the government to hand over the required custom-milled rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in the time specified. Following a request from millers, the government had increased the milling charges from ₹10 per quintal to ₹50 per quintal for fine varieties (Grade A) of paddy and for common varieties from ₹10 to ₹40, Mr. Uttam Reddy noted.