Commissioner of Civil Supplies C. Parthasarathy has asked officials to prepare an advance action plan for procurement of paddy at Minimum Support Price (MSP) in the wake of the Centre’s decision to reduce levy from 75 per cent to 25 per cent.
In a video conference with district officers on Monday, Mr. Parthasarathy told them to plan for more procurement centres so that farmers are ensured MSP for paddy. The procurement season will commence from October 1 and by that time officials should position adequate number of gunny bags, he said, adding that payment to farmers should be made through cheques as directed by the Centre.
Asking them to assess the infrastructure to be provided by the Marketing Department, the Commissioner also suggested that they draw required personnel from the Agriculture Department to do a quality check of the paddy purchased in procurement centres. Further, they were told to extend online payment facility practised in Medak and Nizamabad districts to other districts, to launch a publicity campaign about MSP and fair average quality specifications.
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The district officers should collect details of the estimated paddy production from the Agriculture Department, quantity of paddy to be purchased by millers, to impart training to the personnel engaged in purchase operations, to position sufficient equipment in the procurement centres, to appoint transport contractors and to mill levy at 25 per cent of raw rice to be collected both in decentralised procurement and by the Civil Supplies Corporation, the Commissioner said.
The FCI should receive raw rice in non-decentralised procurement districts and boiled rice in all districts. The paddy MSP fixed for Kharif Marketing Season 2014-15 was Rs. 1,360 per quintal for the common variety and Rs. 1,400 per quintal for grade-A variety. Managing Director of Civil Supplies Corporation V. Anil Kumar, Rajagopal (FCI), Lakshmi Bai (marketing) and others participated.