Despite assurances by officials and public representatives, paddy procurement has been moving at a snail’s pace worrying farmers. Any dark cloud has been sending shivers down their spine as paddy spread by some of the farmers got damaged and incurred huge loss.
According to sources, lack of required number of lorries and stock already piled up at rice mills was stated to be one of the reasons for the delay in procurement. At several places farmers had already held protest demanding that the government procure paddy on war footing. On Tuesday also farmers in Medak town and Shamnapur village in Havelighanapur mandal held dharna demanding lorries and lifting of paddy. The dharna was held beyond party lines. It was stated that the paddy sprouted at drying platforms in Jhansilingapur village in Shankarampet mandal. On Monday also farmers held dharna at several places.
Even officials were admitting that there was a delay in paddy procurement. For instance take the case of Medak district. As many as 390 paddy procurement centres (PPC) were established in the district to purchase about 4 lakh metric tonnes of paddy and so far 1.27 lakh metric tonnes was procured.
In the case of Siddipet, as many as 412 PPCs were established and it was expected that about 6.86 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was expected for procurement. About one lakh metric tonnes of paddy was procured so far and the remaining would be completed in the next few weeks depending on the availability of space.
Meanwhile, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president T. Jayaprakash Reddy visited Medak market yard on Tuesday and interacted with farmers. The farmers informed him that for the past several weeks they had been waiting with paddy but it was not being lifted despite repeated appeals. He immediately called the officer concerned and informed him that about 20 lorries of paddy piled up at the market and it needed to be shifted immediately. “I have spoken with Additional Collector Ramesh and informed that the farmers have been waiting with the paddy for the past two months. He has promised to send lorries by tomorrow,” he told the farmers.
