Traders denying MSP to ryots warned

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, DEC. 20. The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, has asked the Joint Collectors to give further push to rice procurement operations in order to achieve this month's target of 10 lakh tonnes out of which about 4.85 lakh tonnes has been achieved so far.

Mr. Naidu told them that funds were no constraint for procurement as the Reserve Bank of India had offered credit facility up to Rs.120 crores for the purpose. At least, 50,000 tonnes of rice must be procured daily (against the present 36,000 tonnes) for the next 10 days to reach the target, he added.

Speaking at a video conference with district officials on Wednesday, Mr. Naidu instructed them to arrest traders denying the minimum support price of Rs.540 a quintal for fine and Rs.510 a quintal for common. They must give wide publicity in villages to inform farmers about the arrangements made by the Government to procure rice from them.

At the political level, the Chief Minister asked the Minister for Civil Supplies, Dr. N. Janardhan Reddy, to clarify to the BJP State leaders the efforts the Government was making to bail out the farmers. He regretted that the BJP, having failed to support the TDP in Parliament on the farmers' issue, was criticising the Government.

The Chief Minister directed all TDP MLAs and Assembly constituency in-charges, now preoccupied with organisational elections, to extensively tour their areas from December 22 and see that the farmers were paid MSP by the millers as well as the FCI. They should report their observations to the three-member Cabinet sub-committee, comprising the Ministers of Civil Supplies, Agriculture and Marketing.

Meanwhile, the Government is expecting to receive tomorrow from the Centre a comprehensive order on rice procurement clarifying various points raised by it. It was clear from the responses of the Joint Collectors at the video conferences that there was still confusion regarding the grading of paddy at the purchase centres.

The Chief Minister said officials must give first priority to ensuring that farmers were receiving the MSP. The Revenue Minister, Mr. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, speaking from Vizianagaram, said the prevailing rate in several markets in the district was Rs.3.80 a kg for paddy, well below the MSP, but officials were not going into the field to rectify the situation. Mr. Naidu asked the Minister to constitute teams and send them to villages.

The Karimnagar Joint Collector said he was taking deterrent action against traders who were not paying the MSP and had suspended the licences of 13 traders on this score. He had constituted two flying squads headed by Deputy Collectors for this purpose.

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Section  : Southern States
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