Kerala - Kottayam   

Paddy crisis: call for Government intervention

By Our Staff Reporter

KOTTAYAM, FEB. 10. Primary cooperative banks have called for immediate Government intervention to tide over the crisis in the paddy sector.

Cooperative bank authorities said the banks, which had carried out paddy procurement effectively last year, were in a predicament as they were unable to procure paddy at the remunerative price fixed by the Government.

They said the floor price fixed by the Government and the actual market price registered a difference of Rs.200 per quintal. This has made procurement almost impossible for the banks.

The primary banks that had carried out procurement operations last year found themselves in a financial crisis as the Government had not paid them the handling charges, they said. They had taken credit from the district cooperative bank at 12 per cent interest for the procurement operations.

As the Government has failed to repay the handling charges, they are incurring huge losses, they said.

Two primary cooperative banks, one at Nattakom and the other at Kumarakom, had been functioning in the area since 1999.

The Nattakom cooperative bank, which had procured the largest quantity of paddy last year, is yet to receive Rs.17.5 lakhs by way of handling charges, while the Kumarakom bank has to get Rs.7 lakhs.

Banks yet to be repaid

Almost all the primary cooperative banks that had engaged in procurement operations last year are yet to be repaid by the Government, making it impossible for them to enter the market this year, they said.

They said that though provision had been made for procurement, the authorities had not made any provision for marketing the paddy procured from the farmers.

The marketing is solely dependant on private parties in Kalady, they said. Cheap rice from other States is flooding the Kalady market and the cooperative bank authorities want restrictions on dumping.

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