Chennai, May 19 (IANS) Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) state President Anbumani Ramadoss has urged the Tamil Nadu government to procure paddy at Rs 3,000 per quintal.
He said that currently the state government is procuring paddy at Rs 2,265 per quintal and added that the farmers were even forced to pay bribes to the workers at the procurement centres.
He said that private traders pay Rs 2,500 to Rs 2,700 per quintal to the farmers and procure the paddy directly from farmers.
Anbumani who is a former Union Health Minister alleged that the Tamil Nadu government has reduced the procurement of paddy by 10 lakh metric tonnes this year as compared to the procurement of the previous year.
He said that reducing the procurement of paddy by one-fourth cannot be overlooked in a state where agriculture is the primary occupation.
The PMK leader said that the reduction of procurement by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation is due to the farmers selling their yield to private traders.
Anbumani Ramadoss said that reducing the procurement of paddy by the Civil Supplies Corporation would lead to the collapse of the civil supplies system in the state.
He added that this would lead to a shortage of rice which can trigger a spiraling of price hike of rice in the open market and threaten food security.
He called upon the Tamil Nadu government to conduct a detailed assessment of the reason for the decreased procurement of paddy and take measures to increase the procurement prices.
–IANS
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