Hyderabad: Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Monday, May 18, said that nearly 50 per cent of paddy has been procured in Karimnagar with Rs 237 crore being credited to farmers so far.
In a review meeting with local MLAs Medipalli Satyam and Kavvampalli Satyanarayana, District Collector Chitra Mishra and representatives of the Rice Millers Transport Association at the Karimnagar Collectorate, Ponnam said that the state aims to collect approximately 3 lakh metric tons of paddy in Karimnagar this season.
“In this, 1.58 lakh metric tons of paddy have been procured so far. The remaining 1.5 lakh metric tons should be procured on a war footing,” he said.
Ponnam Prabhakar said that 63 per cent of the payments related to the paddy procurement have been completed, and Rs. 237.39 crore have been credited to farmers’ accounts.
“The district administrative machinery is providing full cooperation in the paddy procurement process. I appeal to rice millers and lorry owners to act responsibly and cooperate with the government,” he said.
He instructed officials to ensure there is no shortage of hamalis at procurement centres and rice mills, and warned that no farmers should have to wait for days after bringing paddy to procurement centres.
Noting that issues are arising in some areas due to a shortage of staff at Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) centres, the minister directed the officials to appoint additional staff where necessary and conduct the procurement process smoothly.
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