Telangana Govt Agrees to Purchase Wet Paddy; Farmers Need Not Worry

Telangana government will buy wet paddy caused by recent rains, and farmers should not be worried, said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday. According to an official release, Rao, who attended a review meeting on paddy procurement, asked officials about gunny bags, transportation, and other aspects of the issue.

As the rainy season approaches, the Chief Minister directed that paddy procurement be expedited.

The officials informed the Chief Minister that a procurement target of 56 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had been set. So far, the government has purchased a total of 20.25 lakh tonnes of paddy, he said, adding that all officials in charge of paddy purchase centres must coordinate with officials from the Marketing Department to ensure an adequate number of tarpaulin sheets are available to protect paddy from rains that are expected to continue for a few more days.

He also stated that officials have been directed to complete the purchase process and transfer the paddy to the mills as soon as possible.

Observing that appropriate precautions should be taken as harvested paddy becomes wet due to unseasonal rains in some areas of the state, Rao stated that the state government would purchase wet paddy until the last grain was purchased, regardless of Expenditure.

According to the release, Rao reiterated that the state government would purchase boiled rice from farmers without regard for expenditure or whether the Centre purchased the grains or not.

The opposition Congress has slammed the TRS government for causing farmers hardship in the face of heavy rains by failing to complete paddy procurement on time.

“Paddy farmers whose produce was brought to the government's market yards for purchase but was soaked by recent rains should have the soaked paddy dried according to existing guidelines and brought back for purchase at IKP centres,” the Telangana state government said earlier.