Andhra Pradesh govt. will deal with rice smugglers ruthlessly, says Chief Minister Naidu
Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu vowed strict action against rice smugglers and entrusted the CID with the investigation. The state procured 21.04 lakh MT of paddy, up 40% from 2023. Farmers received 93% payments within 24 hours. Plans include silos in fields, standardizing moisture testing machines, and mobile dryers to enhance farmer income and efficiency.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has said the government has taken a serious view of the recycling of rice meant for distribution among the beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (PDS).
“The government will deal with the rice smugglers ruthlessly,” Mr. Naidu told the media after inspecting paddy procurement at a Rythu Seva Kendram (RSK) and a rice mill at Ganguru in Krishna district on December 20 (Friday).
Mr. Naidu said the government had entrusted the investigation of the large-scale rice smuggling detected recently to the CID and that it was invoking the provisions of the Preventive Detention Act to curb the menace.
“I am happy that the Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar was seized of the matter. The necessary steps were taken to bring the culprits to book,” he said.
The Chief Minister said 21,04,233 MT had been procured this year so far, compared to 12.55 lakh metric tonnes (MT) purchased in 2023, registering an increase of nearly 40%. .
Payments were made to 93% of the farmers within 24 hours for the paddy they sold. A total of 3,13,670 farmers were paid ₹4,733 crore in 48 hours.
Mr. Naidu said the government was exploring ways to pay farmers within two or four hours of selling their produce, and it intended to seek the support of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in this regard.
The Chief Minister said the government would undertake an exercise to standardise the machines that test moisture content in paddy so that there would be no variations between the results obtained at the Rythu Seva Kendrams and rice mills.
Andhra Pradesh has around 3,700 Rythu Seva Kendrams and 1,713 rice mills respectively.
Silos planned in fields
Further, Mr. Naidu said that five crore gunny bags had been stocked for supply to farmers. “The government has planned to set up silos in the fields itself to enable farmers to sell grains when they could fetch remunerative prices. Besides, the government is looking into ways to make an adequate number of dryers available at rice mills,” Mr. Naidu said.
Of the 1,713 rice mills in the State, only 394 have dryers and they could dry only 23% of the grains brought to them. “The proposal to arrange mobile dryers is being examined,” Mr. Naidu said, adding that the government was moving towards precision agriculture to generate higher incomes for farmers.
Ministers Nadendla Manohar, Kollu Ravindra and Vasamsetti Subhash; and MLAs Bode Prasad, Yarlagadda Venkat Rao were among those present.
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Source : The Hindu
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