Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has instructed the officials to procure paddy from farmers whatever may be the expenditure and make payments to the farmers on time.
The CM said there was a record and bountiful paddy production this year for the first time in the history and as a result heavy quantities of paddy was reaching the Civil Supplies Purchasing Centers. He said the State government was ready to spend any amount of money to purchase the paddy and asked the officials to arrange for the immediate payments to farmers without any delay. The CM said though the State government was releasing funds, it was taking sometime for the money to reach farmers and this delay should be eliminated.
The CM held a review meeting with Civil Supplies Commissioner C V Anand and other officials at Pragati Bhavan here on the procurement of paddy at the Civil Supplies Procurement Centers in the State. The officials informed the Chief Minister that last year the procurement was nine lakh tonnes and this year by this time 37 lakh tonnes of paddy has already been procured and another two lakh tonnes was expected at the centers. They said in 2013-14, the maximum procurement was at 17 lakh tonnes and now it has become 2.5 times more. So far, 37 lakh tonnes of paddy was purchased at a cost of Rs 5,300 crore and of this, Rs 4,000 crore has already been given to farmers.
The Chief Minister asked the officials to pay the rest of Rs 1,000 crore immediately. He said without waiting for the FCI to clear the dues, the officials should arrange for the payment of Rs 1,000 crore and for this the government will give Bank Guarantee. Since the farmers need money to start the operations during the Kharif, more concentration should be paid on clearing the farmers’ payments, the CM ordered. He also wanted the officials to review the situation regularly and make the payments. (NSS)