Karimnagar: No shortage of gunny sacks, asserts Gangula Kamalakar

Karimnagar: Civil Supplies and BC Welfare Minister Gangula Kamalakar clarified that there was no shortage of gunny bags in any part of the State and the government was having 7.67 crore gunny bags stocks. Stating that the paddy procurement was going at a brisk pace by opening 3381 procurement centres, he said that they had already procured 3.80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from 49,875 farmers worth Rs 742 crore. He said already 3.54 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was shifted to mills and added that they would provide payments to the farmers in their bank accounts after acknowledgement from the millers.

The Minister on Tuesday formally inaugurated the procurement centres in Baddipalli, Asifnagar, Nagula Malyala villages in Kothapalli mandal. Speaking on the occasion, he said they had opened 249 procurement centres in Karimnagar district and procured 8600 metric tonnes of paddy from 1373 farmers. He informed the farmers to get the paddy after cleaning with FAQ (fair average quality) to get MSP and assured non-deduction of paddy in the name of wastage.

Flaying the Union government for not procuring the paddy produce, he said that the state government was procuring the paddy from the farmers by providing a minimum support price. Stating that the FCI physical verification was hampering the shifting of the paddy to the mills, he urged Union Minister G Kishan Reddy to take measures to ensure that there was no physical verification and delay in the shifting of the paddy produce to the mills.

He claimed that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had transformed the agricultural scenario with the completion of Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project, providing 24×7 power, implementing Rythu bandhu and Rythu Bheema and other schemes for farmers' welfare.