Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) on Friday announced that the state government will buy all paddy from farmers in the state this year. The state would open village-level market yards in the wake of market yards at towns being shut over the 21-day COVID-19 lockdown.
The state hopes to purchase about 38 lakh tonnes of paddy, and the procurement is expected to begin from April 1. Procuring paddy from all the farmers in the state however would cost the government close to Rs 35,000 crore, the Chief Minister informed.
"Farmers need not come to the market yards located in the nearby towns. Purchasing centres will be opened in villages," said KCR on Friday, adding that his government was in touch with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise a loan for the purpose.
The Chief Minister further added that the entire staff of the market yard will be deployed in villages to procure paddy directly from the farmers. “The procurement will take place for about one month. If necessary, the primary schools, zilla parishad schools and junior colleges in the respective villages will be used as temporary godowns," said the Chief Minister.
The state government said permission will be granted to any trader who wishes to visit the villages and procure the paddy. Modalities of the procurement would be decided on Sunday after discussion with district collectors.
The Telangana Congress, on the other hand, urged the state government to also make arrangements to procure chilli, maize and other agricultural produce from farmers in the state. The party has also sent an email to the Chief Minister in this regard, pointing out that farmers who sell agricultural produce are unable to transport their goods due to the lockdown.