Better plan for Samba sought after bitter Kuruvai procurement

TIRUCHY: With the state government’s announcement that the procurement process for kuruvai crops is almost nearing an end, farmers in the delta region have expressed concerns about the bitter experiences during the procurement process. They have urged the government to plan well for samba procurement which would commence at the end of November or middle of December and sort out the issues witnessed during kuruvai.

Farmers put forth the issues like the absence of adequate infrastructural facilities and continued irregularities by employees which pushed farmers to pile up paddy in the open areas leading to the decay of the crops due to the unseasonal rainfall causing a loss.

Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC), has been nominated as the agency to procure paddy in Tamil Nadu under a decentralized procurement system on behalf of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Around 2,500 centres have been opened across the State for the kuruvai procurement yet they failed to ensure hassle-free procurement. The farmers claim that there were surprise raids by the special teams but the earlier situation still continues. Farmers claim that around Rs 625 crore was given as a bribe to the DPC staff across the State for the procurement of kuruvai, samba, thalady and summer crops.

Farmers stated that the time had almost arrived for a tripartite meeting as the samba harvest would commence at the end of November. They demanded to organise a meeting at least by November 15 so that they can put forth their grievances. They also said that there would be a shortage of gunny bags for Samba procurement and urged the government to make it ready in advance. Farmers said that kuruvai cultivation takes place on 5 lakh acres of land in the delta region while samba is undertaken on an area of 15 lakh acre and so the requirement for gunny bags is triple fold.