Paddy farmers deprived of MSP

Srikakulam: Purchasing of paddy through government agencies is remaining on papers and traders are procuring it from farmers by offering Rs 150 less than the minimum support price (MSP). The government fixed Rs 1,510 as MSP for A grade and Rs 1,470 for normal variety of paddy, but traders are paying Rs 1,360 and Rs 1,320 to farmers per quintal. 

According to district supply officer, V Subrahmanyam, civil supplies corporation district manager H V Jayaram, six government agencies, Velugu Societies, Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS), Agriculture Market Committees, District Cooperative Marketing Society, Girijana Cooperative Corporation and Government Employees  Cooperative Society set up 145 Paddy Purchasing Centres across the district.

Levy target is fixed at seven lakh tonnes, but so far procured 45,000 tonnes which shows how the PPCs are working at ground level. Traders are purchasing paddy from farmers by collecting their Pattadar Passbook and bank account books and shifting  the paddy directly to mills and handed over the documents to PPCs for record.

PPCs have to set up rice mills on their premises, but not even a single PPC set up mills. Arasavalli PPC has been attached to a rice mill at Kallepalli village, but the PPC is at Arasavalli which is five KM distance from the mill. Sales manager of the PPC Mogasala Mutyala Rao admitted that farmers are not taking their paddy to PPCs they are selling their produce directly to traders.

“We are selling our paddy to traders and they are collecting our Pattadar Passbooks and bank account books,” said farmers Ch Lakshunnaidu, P Venkata Ramana Murthy of Ponduru and M Suryanarayana, G Jagadeesh of Rajam and Srikakulam rural mandals.