Taking into account the problems faced by farmers in the State, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the government to establish sufficient number of direct purchase centres (DPCs) with adequate storage facilities for paddy procurement.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and B. Pugalendhi directed the government to issue auto-generated token numbers to the farmers and ensure paddy procurement without delay.
The court said the paddy brought to the DPCs should be procured on the same day. Regular and surprise inspections should be conducted at the centres. Appropriate action must be taken against erring officials.
The farmers should be sensitised to the functioning of the DPCs. Details of the authorities who would look into their grievances should be displayed at the centres and it must be ensured that immediate action was taken on their complaints.
The court said bribe must not be demanded from the farmers and involvement of local traders should be prevented at the DPCs. The court was hearing the public interest litigation petition filed by A.P. Suryaprakasam of Chennai, and other connected matters.
The petitioner sought a direction to the State government to take necessary action against erring officials. He complained that there was corruption and mismanagement at the DPCs. The petition was disposed of with the direction.
