Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu set a fresh deadline of three weeks for completing the sale of unsold inventory of tobacco crop.
“Traders should buy 10 million kgs of low grade (F9 and F10) crop every week and complete the process in three weeks”, he said in a review meeting with Tobacco Board members and traders at his Camp Office here on Thursday.
On the occasion, Mr. Naidu said of the total stock of 36 million kgs that is yet to be sold, around 15.72 million kgs is rejected crop. “I will review sales every week and the process has to be completed in three weeks,” he said, taking strong objection to breaching of the previous deadline (September 30) set by Union Minister Nirmala Sitaraman.
The Chief Minister said a joint package to bail out farmers was decided during his deliberations with the Union Minister in the city on September 18. The commitment entailed an expenditure of Rs. 7.86 crore for the State exchequer at the assured rate of Rs. 5 per kg of rejected crop.
“Ensure that this money is credited to farmers’ accounts directly,” he told the Tobacco Board members, adding that he will talk to the Central Government to ensure that it is implemented immediately.
Chief Secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, Principal Secretary (Finance) P.V. Ramesh, Secretary to CM Sai Prasad, Joint Secretary to CM A. Rajamouli and others were present.
