Seeking to leverage technology to avoid complaints of delay in procurement, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) is all set to implement an e-DPC (Direct Purchase Centre) system for paddy procurement in the State for the kharif marketing season, commencing October 1.
Under the new system, farmers will be required to register details such as their name, details of their land, Aadhaar and bank account numbers on TNCSC websites ( www.tncsc.tn.gov.in or www.tncsc-edpc.in ) before they sell their paddy at direct purchase centres.
Once the registration is done after generating a one-time password, the village administrative officers of the respective villages, who are to be linked to the system, will verify the details and give their confirmation.
Upon receiving the VAO’s confirmation, farmers will receive text messages to their mobile numbers providing details of the DPC name and date and time of procurement of their paddy. They can bring in their paddy at the appointed hour and date and sell their paddy without having to wait for a long time at the DPCs, the corporation has announced.
The move comes in the wake of complaints of long delays, often running into several days, in procurement of paddy at the direct purchase centres at various places, especially in delta districts in recent months. Farmers have also complained that the grains get drenched in rain as they have to keep the paddy in the open.
The new system is expected to overcome such problems, according to a TNCSC official here.
Asked about any practical difficulties that farmers may encounter in registering their details online, the official says there may be some confusion initially in the first few days but they will be resolved.
“If there are any issues, we will rectify them. But we expect most farmers to adapt to the system soon,” he adds.
The procurement date will be allotted based on seniority of registration at the DPC level, he clarifies.
Welcoming the move, Arupathy Kalyanam, general secretary, Federation of Farmers Associations of Delta Districts, says any initiative to harness technology for streamlining the system is welcome provided it is implemented in an effective and transparent manner.
The registration details such as names of farmers, village and the extent of the land should be available on the TNCSC website for public viewing. This will help in preventing irregularities, he adds.
Mr. Kalyanam also wants introduction of mobile DPCs for procuring paddy directly from the field as the main problem faced by small and marginal farmers is in transporting the harvested foodgrains to the DPC.
“In order to overcome this, many farmers prefer to sell their harvest to middlemen or traders even if it means that they get a price lesser than what they will get at the DPC,” he points out.
The middlemen normally offer about ₹150 lesser than the government rate per quintal and sell the paddy at the DPCs. But they spare the farmers of much trouble as they pick up the paddy right at the farmers’ doorstep and even bring in gunny bags, Mr. Kalyanam claims.
He, however, does not foresee much problem in farmers getting accustomed to the online registration system.
“They can do it through the common service centres and much will depend on how effectively the system is implemented” Mr. Kalyanam says.
