TN ensuring daily paddy procurement as per CM Stalin’s directions: Minister

Chennai, Oct 22 (PTI) Tamil Nadu has been ensuring adequate procurement of paddy from farmers on a daily basis as per the directions of Chief Minister M K Stalin, Agriculture Minister M R K Panneerselvam said on Wednesday.

He accused Opposition Leader Edappadi K Palaniswami of “spreading false information” about the government’s paddy procurement process.

Briefing reporters at the Secretariat, Panneerselvam said the state government has been procuring around 1,000 bags of paddy per day from farmers, compared to 600 bags during the previous AIADMK regime.

“Palaniswami has been saying that the government should procure 2,000 bags of paddy per day. But when he was Chief Minister, it was mandated that one Direct Procurement Centre (DPC) should procure only 600–700 bags of paddy. After the DMK assumed office, we decided to procure 1,000 bags per day from each DPC,” he said.

He added that paddy production this year has reached record levels due to copious rainfall. “So far, 1.6 lakh metric tonnes of paddy have been procured from the delta districts,” he said.

“Under the Dravidian Model government, paddy is being procured promptly from farmers on a daily basis,” Panneerselvam said.

The minister said orders have been issued to ensure paddy bags are not stored in the open and are transported to godowns with proper storage facilities. “We have also instructed that paddy bags be stored in sugar mill godowns,” he added.

Panneerselvam said water is released from the Mettur dam for irrigation every year on June 12, and this year, 1.85 lakh electricity connections were provided to agricultural lands to enable farmers to operate motor pumps.

“In view of that, paddy production has increased this year,” he said. PTI VIJ SSK