Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan on Thursday criticized the government for not initiating proper action to help paddy farmers.
He explained that though senior
IAS officers were deloyed to 10 affected districts to take stock of the situation at the state's grain purchase centres, the officers were not awarded any administrative powers, which rendered them helpless.
He pointed out that local businessmen were striking deals with millers to use godowns to stock liquor and other substances, cheating farmers of their storage space.
He also stated that the government was yet to procure 90 lakhs tonnes of the 130,00,000 tonnes of the rabi produce, and that the government and the FCI paddy procurement centres have failed to buy the farmers' grains at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Unseasonal rains have inflicted irreparable damage on the hills of paddy grains stocked up outside the state's grain purchase centres, said the former IAS officer. He advised the government to hasten the process of providing storage grains for the paddy grains as the rainy season is round the corner.