Telangana govt assures full procurment of rain-drenched Paddy
Hyderabad, May 27 (TNT): Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday assured farmers that all rain-drenched paddy would be fully procured and appealed to them not to panic over crop stocks affected by unseasonal rains.
Chairing a high-level video conference with Ministers, district collectors, senior civil supplies officials and police authorities, Uttam said the State Government had launched an intensive emergency response mechanism to protect soaked grain and ensure uninterrupted procurement operations across affected districts.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao and Civil Supplies Commissioner Stephen Ravindra also participated in the review meeting.
The Minister said Telangana had recorded paddy arrivals of 66.75 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), of which nearly 57 LMT had already been procured.
He stated that the government had released ₹10,096 crore directly into the bank accounts of over 8.14 lakh farmers towards Minimum Support Price (MSP) payments.
According to official estimates, rain-drenched paddy stocks of nearly 9,214 metric tonnes were reported from 17 districts following recent heavy rains.
Uttam said the government launched a large-scale overnight salvage operation and shifted nearly 95 per cent of the soaked paddy to boiled rice mills, preventing major crop losses.
District collectors, RDOs, tahsildars and civil supplies officials have been placed on high alert following weather warnings issued by the government.
The Minister said vehicles were mobilised from early morning hours to transport drenched stocks from procurement centres to mills.
He said around 9 LMT of paddy still remained to be procured, while another 8.1 LMT was expected from fields where harvesting operations were continuing, especially in Siddipet, Nagarkurnool and Jagtial districts.
Despite rain-related disruptions, Uttam said procurement operations remained broadly on target and most districts were expected to complete procurement within the next few days.
The Minister directed officials to temporarily divert lorries engaged in sand transportation and cement dispatches for paddy transportation operations.
He also instructed collectors to keep transport vehicles, labour teams and emergency officers on standby round-the-clock in view of possible shortages of drivers and hamalis during the Bakrid holidays.
Stressing that the next three to four days would be crucial, Uttam said the government was fully committed to ensuring smooth procurement operations and safeguarding farmers’ interests.
TNT TS
