Every Grain Of Paddy Will Be Purchased At MSP: Uttam Kumar Reddy

Civil Supplies and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy today reiterated that every grain of paddy produced in Telangana would be purchased by paying the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the farmers.

The minister also warned of stern action against traders who purchased paddy or other produce below the MSP.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Reddy dismissed the allegations levelled by opposition BRS leaders of a scam in the global tenders called for by the Civil Supplies Corporation to dispose of the enormous paddy stocks.

The minister said that former minister Harish Rao, former BRS MLA Jeevan Reddy and other BRS leaders were levelling baseless allegations, lacking in subject knowledge of either paddy procurement or auction.

Giving a comparative statement on the status of the paddy procurement this year (as of April 14) compared to that in the previous year, Reddy said that as against 7,031 Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs) proposed last year, this year 7,149 centres were proposed.

While only 335 PPCs were opened by April 14 of last year, this year, as of March 25, a total of 6,919 centres had been opened, he added.

And whereas only 233 Metric Tonnes (MTs) of paddy were procured last year as of April 14, a total of 269,699 MTs (2.70 LMTs) had been procured so far this year, he said.

"As of the current date, paddy procurement is significantly higher than in the previous year," he said.

"Never in the past were PCCs opened before April. However, this year, special permission was taken from the Centre to start the PCCs on March 25," Reddy said.

Alleging that the Civil Supplies Corporation was pushed into a debt of Rs 58,000 crore in the last ten years due to mismanagement by the BRS regime, the minister said that the Congress government had reduced the same debt by more than Rs 5,000 crore in a quarter, which was a shining example of the Congress government's performance.

"The Congress government has been taking up the paddy procurement process transparently and with utmost commitment and dedication. The District Collectors had been given clear directions to open more procurement centres wherever required. At the same time, the farmers should not sell their produce below the MSP under any circumstances," Reddy said.