Finance Minister T Harish Rao called upon officials to ensure that there is no problem as far as paddy procurement is concerned and that payments are cleared in 24 hours.
In a teleconference held with officials here on Wednesday along with District Collector P. Venkatarama Reddy, Additional Collector Muzammil Khan and others, Mr. Harish Rao said the government had already allocated required funds for payment to farmers.
“Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has allocated ₹26,000 crore for paddy procurement. Tab entry must be completed after downloading paddy at the mill and in the next 24 hours the amount must be paid to farmers in their accounts. There should not be any shortage for gunny bags, tarpaulins and transport problem. Ensure that the paddy that was brought to procurement centres does not soak in the rain,” said Mr. Harish Rao.
He added that the officials had estimated arrival of 5.4 lakh metric tonnes in the present season and so far only 40,000 had arrived.
He expressed displeasure over the delay in tab entry stating that it was also resulting in delay in payment to farmers.
The Minister said tab entry was not completed pertaining to 34 villages although paddy procurement was completed.
