Tamil Nadu Government to Introduce e-Procurement of Paddy
Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday announced in the assembly that the government would introduce e-procurement of paddy from farmers. The scheme, which will cost Rs 13.43 crore, will be implemented this year, this chief minister said. "Due to various discrepancies in the present system of procurement, e-procurement system will be introduced. The entire procurement of paddy will be computerised," she said
Direct procurement centres in the state will get a point of sale machine, a computer, a printer and an electronic weighing scale. These would increase the efficiency of the centres, she said. "Farmers will have to register their names, mobile numbers, land details, crop acreage and period of harvest either through online or through the e-seva centres. Farmers will be informed through SMS the date and time when they will have to bring their produce. This will prevent farmers standing or waiting in the queue for hours together," said Jayalalithaa.
After the paddy is procured, farmers will get a receipt with details about the paddy weight and the total price which the farmers are eligible to get. The money due to farmers will be deposited in their respective bank accounts. The government will set up a modern rice mill in Valangaiman division of Tiruvarur district at a cost of Rs 20 crore. The rice mill, to be set up by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, will have a capacity of 30,000 tonne. The rice from this mill would be used for public distribution scheme, said Jayalalithaa.
"Two godowns with a capacity of 10,000 tonne will be constructed at Kottur and Needamangalam in Tiruvarur district. The godowns will also have conveyor belts, stackers and loaders for loading paddy from the godown to trucks," she said. The government will also set up silos in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts. Five grain saving godowns will be constructed at a cost of Rs 18.50 crore in Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district, Arakkonam in Vellore district, Manamadurai in Sivaganga district, Namakkal and Cuddalore.
The government has sanctioned Rs 20 crore for construction of new buildings for direct procurement centres. The chief minister also sanctioned funds for new buildings for primary cooperative societies and agricultural primary cooperative banks. "The above announcements will help farmers to sell paddy in the direct procurement centres without any problem. It will also help the government distribute better standard rice through public distribution system," said Jayalalithaa.
Source: The Times of India
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