Minister for Food and Civil Supplies R. Sakkarapani on Friday denied any shortcomings in paddy procurement in the delta districts, as alleged by Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
In an official statement, he said this year, from May 1 to June 30, 8,065 metric tonnes of paddy had been procured in Tiruchi district, up from 2,446 MT during the same period last year. In the delta districts, 2,97,210 metric tonnes of paddy had been procured, which is up by 24% after the new government took charge.
He said during Mr. Palaniswami’s tenure as Chief Minister, silos with a capacity of 50,000 MT were set up in Mayiladuthurai, but they required another ₹14 crore to turn operational.
Mr. Palaniswami had, on Thursday, referred to media reports that farmers faced hardships at direct procurement centres as there was no proper distribution of tokens. He had said that only those recommended by the ruling party’s cadre were being given preference in selling paddy.
