Procure paddy without involving millers: AP CM to officials

Vijayawada: The State Government has asked the officials to procure paddy for Kharif without involving the millers and ensure payment of MSP to the farmers. At a review meeting on paddy procurement at his camp office at Tadepalli near here, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday took stock of the implementation of the new system.

The authorities should take appropriate steps to solve the small problems that arise while observing how this new system is being implemented, he told them.

The Chief Minister said that officials should anticipate the grain collection to be made and bags should be made available well in advance. Accountability should be maintained by the officials in transport and reimbursement of labour expenses and payments should be made in a transparent manner. He suggested the officials examine the system and make it better for the benefit of the farmers. Farmers should know that the government is paying the cost of transportation and gunny bags.

Steps should be taken to get money from the corporation through direct cash transfer which will bring more transparency in payments, he said. With signal problems that may arise in the app designed for grain collection, the officials should enrol the details offline and make changes so that all the details are automatically loaded online when signal frequency is high. Similar practices are being followed by many government departments. Adequate technical assistance should be sought from those departments, he said.

Elaborating further, the Chief Minister said that posters should be displayed in Rythu Bharosa Kendrams (RBKs) to provide comprehensive information on procurement and purchases, besides creating awareness among the farmers. Audio and video information should be directly sent to the mobile phones of the farmers and they should be fully informed about the latest procedure for grain collection and what is being done in the process, he said.

The Civil Supplies Department should prepare Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the duties of District Managers. Effective monitoring should be ensured in compliance with these SOPs and without room for manipulation and corruption, the Chief Minister said.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said farmers should be encouraged for cultivation of millets on a large scale. Focus should be also laid by the Civil Supplies Department on supplying the millets as per requirement, he said.

Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Civil Supplies Minister Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao, AP Agro Mission vice chairman MVS Nagi Reddy, Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy, Principal Secretary (Marketing and Cooperative Society) Chiranjeevi Chowdary, Finance Secretary KVV Satyanarayana, Secretary (Transport, Roads and Buildings) PS Pradyumna, Secretary (Civil Supplies) H Arun Kumar, Agriculture Commissioner C Hari Kiran, Marketing Commissioner Rahul Pande, Civil Supplies Director Vijaya Sunitha and other officials were also present.