Tiruvarur farmers demand more Direct Procurement Centres

“The state government has been making false propaganda that they have saved the farmers, but the fact is we are struggling to sell the harvested paddy to the DPCs as most of them have already been closed before the completion of harvest period,” PS Masilamani, the state Deputy secretary of Tamil Nadu Farmers association said.

He said that the state government had closed the DPCs in the month of September as the Centre has yet to give permission to procure paddy during the rabi period since the khariff season had already over. “This lead the farmers to sell the paddy to the private parties for less profit,” he added.

In few places, the DPCs were opened after a series of protests, but several DPCs are non-functional in the areas where Kuruvai had been undertaken in a large scale, the farmers in the region claimed.  Moreover, the paddy which more than 17 per cent of moisture condition has not been procured. They appealed the state to procure paddy which is even beyond the fixed moisture condition otherwise, the farmers are left to sell them to the private parties for a less amount.