TG govt to keep a hawk-eye on paddy smuggling from AP

Hyderabad: The Telangana government was keeping a strict vigil on paddy smuggling from Andhra Pradesh to Telangana in the ensuing procurement season. The government has received alerts that a few traders of the neighbouring States were trying to dump fine varieties of paddy at procurement centres in Telangana to avail Rs 500 bonus per quintal announced by the government from this season.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has alerted the police officials to curb paddy smuggling from the neighbouring States. The CM asked the officials to keep a continuous vigil at the check posts. The officials are asked to book criminal cases if anyone harassed farmers and cheated them in the guise of moisture content or other reasons (Talu and Tarugu) in the paddy at the centres. Collectors should take the responsibility of addressing the grievances of the farmers and ensure that the farmers should not be exploited.

The CM, along with State Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, held a video conference on paddy procurement and gave certain instructions. Since it is the first time the farmers are being given bonuses, the CM held the Collectors accountable and asked the district authorities to take utmost care in the disbursement of bonuses to the farmers without any mistakes. Revanth Reddy advised the officials to make separate arrangements to procure fine varieties of paddy by establishing measurement machines at the centers.

The Collectors are directed to review the procurement process in their respective districts every day, visit the centres every morning, and inspect the arrangements.

The CM suggested that the special officers have been appointed to the erstwhile 10 districts to monitor the procurement process. Problems related to paddy procurement should be resolved on a day-to-day basis, and the Civil Supplies department opens a 24X7 call centre.

The government estimated to procure 91 metric tonnes of paddy out of 146 metric tonnes of production this year. Out of that, 44 lakh metric tonnes are estimated to be coarse paddy and 47 lakh metric tons of fine variety. The CM said that the collectors should follow the rules in allotting the procured paddy to the non defaulted rice millers only.