With the paddy harvest season set to begin shortly, the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) is planning to procure more than 20 lakh tonnes of the crop this time.
As of now, in the current procurement year (2023-24), about 1.09 lakh tonnes were procured from nearly 17,560 farmers, R. Sakkarapani, Food and Civil Supplies Minister, posted on X (formerly Twitter) a few days ago. Around ₹172.5 crore was paid through bank accounts to the farmers. The TNCSC has planned to open as many as 3,000 direct purchase centres (DPCs) in a phased manner. If required, it will start more, an official said.
In 2022-23, the procurement was about 44.22 lakh tonnes from around 5.22 lakh farmers. Of the total quantity of paddy procured, the share of the delta was two-thirds. The figure for 2021-22 was approximately 43.3 lakh tonnes from over 8.16 lakh farmers. In 2020-21, the procurement and farmers covered were 44.9 lakh tonnes and 8.52 lakhs respectively.
It remains to be seen if the State can meet the original target of 50 lakh tonnes at the end of the procurement year in August. As the major bulk of procurement takes place for the crop raised during the Samba cultivation season, the possibility of lower procurement this time looks real in view of the fall in coverage of paddy in the Cauvery delta due to lack of water and damage to the crop in other parts of the State following heavy rain.
Meanwhile, there have been reports in sections of the media that the government had decided to suspend supply of toor dal and palm oil through the public distribution system citing financial crunch. On Saturday, the AIADMK’s former coordinator, O. Panneerselvam, in a statement, came down heavily on the State government for the reported move and called for ensuring the continued provision of the two commodities.
Besides, urad dal and additional quantity of sugar, as assured by the ruling party in its manifesto for the 2021 Assembly election, should be given, Mr. Panneerselvam added.
Terming the reports as unconfirmed speculations, the official declined to comment on them.
