Hyderabad: Delays at government procurement centres have persisted across the state, with officials attributing the slowdown to untimely rain, excess moisture content in paddy and logistical constraints, including shortages of gunny bags, weighing scales and trucks, as well as infrastructure gaps.
Protests have been reported in districts including Medak, Nizamabad, Nalgonda and Kamareddy, where farmers flagged delays and alleged inadequate facilities at procurement centres. Shortage of tarpaulins, paddy cleaners and labourers were cited among the constraints.
Transport bottlenecks have led to procured paddy remaining at centres for extended periods instead of being moved to rice mills. The situation has been compounded by an ongoing dispute over stock transfers to the Central pool, resulting in pressure on storage and delays at collection points, also known as Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) centres.
According to official data, 2.5 LMT of paddy has been procured so far against the 90 LMT target, with 3,310 procurement centres operational out of 8,251. Paddy has been sown over 64.3 lakh acres, with about 10 per cent harvested to date. In comparison, maize, sown in 15,35,351 acres, has recorded 48 per cent harvest, while greengram, Bengalgram, and groundnut have reached full harvest this season.
District authorities were directed on Tuesday to expedite real-time data entry through the Online Procurement Management System (OPMS). Civil Supplies Commissioner M. Stephen Raveendra instructed staff to ensure immediate entries on tablets to facilitate direct transfer of funds to farmers’ bank accounts.
During an inspection in Ramareddy mandal of Kamareddy district, the commissioner reviewed procurement operations. “The primary focus of the visit was to expedite procurement operations and ensure farmers receive their payments without delay,” an official said.
Raveendra also inspected the primary agricultural cooperative society (PACS) centre at Gargul and an IKP centre at Gokul Thanda and interacted with farmers and reviewed operational efficiencies.
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