Paddy procurement: Call to ensure transparency in payment to farmers

Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has underscored the need to ensure transparency in payment to farmers during paddy procurement.

He was chairing a high-level review meeting on the procurement under a new system with agriculture minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy and civil supplies minister Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao here on Monday.

The chief minister stated that under the new system, farmers would get MSP for the paddy procured from them and there would be no deduction of any kind. “For the first time in the state, we have eliminated the role of millers in the procurement process,” he said.

“Keep a tab on the functioning of the new system and address problems if any,” he asked officials and said they must prepare an estimate of the quantum of paddy to be procured and arrange gunny bags accordingly.

He said there’s need to ensure accountability in the reimbursement of transport and labour charges to the farmers during procurement and laid stress on transparency in making the payment to farmers.

“Make the payment under direct benefit transfer scheme from the civil supplies corporation,” he said.

Referring to the problems in loading the data on the app designed for paddy procurement, due to lack of net connectivity, the CM felt the need to provide a facility wherein those who feed data on the app could do so in offline mode when no internet signals are found and to upload such data in the app automatically once they get internet connectivity.

He called for keeping big posters at Rythu Bharosa Kendras on ‘paddy procurement and purchases’. “Provide such information to farmers on their phones in both audio and video formats, so that they would be aware of all developments in the paddy procurement,” he said.

The CM called for developing standard operating procedures (SoP) on the role of district civil supplies managers vis-a-vis paddy procurement and felt the need to have proper monitoring of implementation of the SOPs so that there would be no anomalies and corruption in paddy procurement.

The CM underlined the importance of bringing about awareness among the farmers on cultivation of alternate crops like millets and asked the officials to ensure their supply to the farmers if they wanted to raise them through the civil supplies department as per their requirement.