Kerala - Alappuzha   

Procurement process unsystematic: UDF

ALAPPUZHA: The United Democratic Front (UDF) has alleged that the procurement process in the rain-hit paddy fields of Kuttanad is unsystematic with officials discriminating harvested crop on the basis of quality. This was against the government’s assurances.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, UDF legislators K.C. Venugopal, K.K. Shaju and B. Babu Prasad along with District Congress Committee president A.A. Shukoor alleged that mills on contract with the Civil Supplies Department to procure harvested paddy in Kuttanad were not procuring damaged paddy, including sprouted crop. The UDF legislators, who visited paddy fields at Kainakary, Mankombu and Pulinkunnu on Tuesday to review the procurement, said only first quality paddy was being procured in areas like the Ayyanadu Padasekharam at Pulinkunnu.

In some cases, Mr. Venugopal said 40 quintals of paddy, the entire lot of it sprouted, was discarded by procurement agencies. The refrain, he said, was that damaged paddy would be procured only in the end. Similar complaints were aired by farmers at Mankombu too while in Kainakary, farmers said agencies were taking one kg of extra paddy per one per cent of moisture, if the moisture was above the allowed level of 17 per cent. Some farmers were forced to give off up to six-and-a-half kg as ‘penalty’, he said. Another complaint that the UDF legislators conveyed was the excessive rates charged by combine harvesters.

Mr. Babu Prasad said the family of Gopi of Veeyapuram, who was reported to have committed suicide due to agricultural debts, was being termed ineligible for any ex gratia by the CPI(M) stating that he had left the CPI(M) in 1992.

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