For the first time in the district, special Direct Procurement Centres (DPC) are to be set up soon at seven places in Chellampatti block to procure summer crops.
S. Ayyappan, Regional Manager, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC), said at the farmers’ grievance day meeting held here on Friday that the DPCs would be opened at Chellampatti, Valandur, Nattampatti, Kodikulam, Chokkathevanpatti and Nattarmangalam.
DPCs set up by the Civil Supplies Department usually function during single crop and double crop harvest seasons only. However, the district administration and Civil Supplies Department had made an exception this year to ensure that farmers received good returns for their summer produce, he said.
Collector L. Subramanian said that the centres would start functioning in the next few days. Payments would be credited to farmers’ bank accounts to ensure speedy transaction and to prevent malpractices.
When some of the farmers expressed doubts about the system, Mr. Subramanian vouched for its transparency and said that future monetary transactions with regard to the DPCs would be carried out only through this mode.
A majority of the farmers, however, welcomed the new system. R. Manavalakannan, a farmer, said that “we need not pay extra any more.”
