Central team coming to assess moisture content in paddy

THANJAVUR: A three-member central team would visit the delta districts on October 24 to assess moisture content of kuruvai paddy being harvested, following the request of the State government to relax norms from 17 per cent to 22 per cent. After the assessment, a decision on relaxing the moisture content would be taken by the Union government. This was disclosed by M Sudha Devi, Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC).

Talking to media persons she said officials have been instructed not to send back farmers because of moisture content but procure the paddy after some drying. Responding to a query on allegations of malpractice by TNCSC officials, she said vigilance teams were monitoring 50-60 DPCs daily. On the question of the glut of the procured paddy bags in DPCs, she said initially there was stagnation in the DPCs. "Now 18,000 to 20,000 tonnes are being procured on an average daily which accounts for 4-5 lakh bags. Around 10,500-11,000 tonnes of paddy are being moved to the Cover and plinth (CAP) storage points or to the hulling agents in delta and other districts daily," she said.