The Coordination Committee of All Farmers Associations in Tamil Nadu has urged the State government to ensure the continuation of paddy procurement from farmers through Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation.
Talking to reporters at Mannargudi on Saturday, Coordination Committee president P. R. Pandian alleged that there was a move to privatise paddy procurement. It was regrettable to note that the intervention of the State government in paddy procurement in the past could get nullified by the present government’s move to throw open the procurement process to private entities/individuals. It was claimed and also established that procurement of paddy by the State government proved beneficial, to some extent, for the farming community.
Such being the case, Mr. Pandian said the proposal to encourage procurement of paddy for hulling through private parties at 16 modern rice mills had created shock waves in the agriculture industry, particularly among farmers.
He exhorted the State government not to go ahead with the proposal which was neither taken up for discussion by the elected representatives of the Legislative Assembly or after eliciting the views of the farmers. Procurement of paddy by Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation should continue in the interests of the farming community.
Meanwhile, enquiries with the TNCSC officials revealed that in order to avoid wastage and delay in moving the paddy procured at direct purchase centres to hulling units, it had been contemplated to ‘attach’ 10 DPCs to one hulling unit as a trial so that the paddy grains could get converted into rice at the shortest possible time.
The process of procurement of paddy from farmers would be executed through the DPCs by the Corporation only, they added.
