BackJayalalithaa announces e-procurement of paddy
Jayalalithaa says the entire procurement of paddy will be fully digitised, as there are various discrepancies in the present system of procurement
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Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa on Friday announced the e-procurement of paddy at an expense of ₹ 13.43 crore to address “systemic deficiencies" that affect farmers at Direct Paddy Procurement Centres (DPPCs).
“The entire procurement of paddy will be fully digitised, as there are various discrepancies in the present system of procurement," she told the state assembly. Sufficient infrastructure will be established with point of sale machines, computers, printers and electronic weighing scales to improve the productivity of the centres, the chief minister said.
Under the new e-procurement system, farmers will have to register their names along with the mobile numbers, land details, paddy cultivation details, etc., at common service centres and an SMS would be sent to them with the date and time for bringing paddy to DPPCs.
“This would eliminate long waiting hours at DPPCs for farmers," said Jayalalithaa
Once the paddy is procured, farmers will receive a receipt outlining details of the weight of paddy bought and the price they will get for it. The money will be deposited in the farmers’ bank accounts.
The government will set up a modern rice mill in Valangaiman, Tiruvarur district, with an annual milling capacity of 30,000 tonnes at an estimated cost of ₹ 20 crore. Two warehouses to store foodgrain with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes will come up at Kottur and Needamangalam in Tiruvarur at a cost of ₹ 40 crore.
In addition to this a total of five godowns at a cost of ₹ 18.50 crore will be set up in Tirunelveli, Vellore, Namakkal, Sivaganga and Cuddalore districts with a capacity of 16,600 tonnes for use of farmers, traders and the Food Corporation of India.
The government has sanctioned ₹ 20 crore for construction of 50 new buildings this year for DPPCs and has announced new buildings for 90 Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Societies.
“These announcements will help farmers to sell paddy in the direct procurement centres without any problem and it will in turn help the government to distribute quality rice through public distribution system," said Jayalalithaa.
Of the 34 million tonnes of rice procured by the Food Corporation of India for the central pool of foodgrain, Tamil Nadu contributed 1.12 million tonnes in 2015-16.
Sayantan Bera in New Delhi contributed to the story.
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