Govt procured 2.88 cr tonnes of paddy in last three-and-a-half yrs

Vijayawada: Civil Supplies Minister Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao said that they had purchased over 2.88 crore metric tonnes of paddy from the farmers in the last three-and-half years and added that the purchased paddy value would be around Rs 54,000 crore.

He further stated that the government was buying directly from the farmers through the Rythu Bharosa Kendrams (RBKs) for the benefit of farmers. While speaking to the media at the State Civil Supplies office here on Thursday, the Minister said that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has brought so many reforms in the agrarian sector as well as paddy purchase procedure to help the farmers in all aspects.

He asserted that every farmer got an additional benefit of Rs 8,000 per acre due to these reforms. He informed that the middleman system was completely rooted out and farmers were being paid an amount directly that too within 21 days of procuring. He said that during this khariff season so far 26 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was procured and farmers were paid 90 per cent of the amount for their paddy production. Referring to the Mobile Dispensing Units (MDU-Door delivery vehicles), the Minister said that all the 9,260 MDU vehicles in the State were working and no cart had stopped.

Minister Kanumuri further clarified that they would give finger millets and sorghum millets to all card-holders across the State and added that they would start supply of these millets in Rayalaseema district under a pilot project. Commissioner of Civil Supplies Department H Arun Kumar, Managing Director of Civil Supplies Department G Veerapandian and others were present.