Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar has directed the District Collectors to set up control rooms at the district level for monitoring the paddy procurement operations in the respective districts on a regular basis.
A special control room will be set up in the state to monitor the overall operation. The Chief Secretary held a teleconference with the District Collectors, Additional Collectors and senior officers of the Agriculture Department to take stock of the arrangements being made for the procurement of paddy from the farmers. The teleconference follows the instructions of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao to take steps on a war footing and ensure that the district machinery is ready for work.
Mr. Somesh Kumar wanted the District Collector to hold a meeting with ministers and senior officials to prepare an action plan for paddy procurement. Procurement centers should be opened immediately and extensive arrangements should be made so that farmers do not get inconvenienced.
To see that there is no problem in the purchase of paddy, the Collector, Additional Collector and senior officers should visit at least four procurement centers daily. He wanted more procurement centers to be set up than last year and a special officer be appointed for each center to monitor the progress of procurement. The focus should be on the purchase of gunny bags under the supervision of a special officer.
The services of Agricultural Extension Officers should be fully utilized and steps should be taken to ensure that farmers are fixed at ₹1,960 per quintal at the minimum support price for their produce. The concerned officers should immediately resolve any problem that comes to their notice in the respective districts and make arrangements for the transportation of paddy purchased from the farmers. He wanted the procurement reports to be submitted on a daily basis.
The Chief Secretary wanted the officers of the Agriculture Department to collect information regarding the total sowing so that proper planning could be made for the purchase of the entire commodity. The support of police and transport department officials should be enlisted to see that paddy does not enter the state from neighboring states.