Govt Steps up Logistics for Paddy Procurement

Hyderabad: With paddy procurement gaining momentum across the state, transport and civil supplies officials at the district level have intensified efforts to resolve logistics-related hurdles. The civil supplies department has shifted into “mission mode” to speed up procurement operations and achieve zero pendency from weighment to payment during the Rabi season.

As large-scale procurement continues, transport department officials have been directed to coordinate with other departments to ensure uninterrupted vehicle movement. On Thursday, transport commissioner K. Ilambarithi instructed officials to ensure adequate availability of lorries and tractors for transportation of paddy from procurement centres to warehouses and rice mills.

Officials were asked to coordinate closely with district administrations and the civil supplies department to make vehicles available as required. The Commissioner also directed that all vehicles engaged in paddy transportation carry valid documents, including RC, fitness certificate, permit, insurance, PUC certificate and driving licence. Continuous monitoring of transportation arrangements and prompt resolution of issues were also stressed.

By Thursday, farmers had received MSP disbursements worth Rs 2,506 crore. Against the State’s procurement target of 90 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), around 6,200 trucks were deployed for quick movement of paddy to mills. Milling capacity has been scaled up to 64.83 LMT, while 11.20 LMT additional storage space has been created.

Procurement activity has picked up across all 8,575 centres, compared to 7,178 centres during the previous Rabi season under the BRS government.

Meanwhile, Civil Supplies Commissioner Stephen Raveendra directed district officials to accelerate procurement and eliminate public grievances by addressing five major bottlenecks — unprocured paddy at centres, weighed bags pending lifting, unloading backlog at mills, data entry delays and miller acknowledgement pendency.

Officials were also instructed to streamline the payment pipeline covering six stages — paddy arrival, weighment, vehicle lifting, mill unloading, acknowledgement and payment.

“By identifying specific bottlenecks at procurement centres and mills and fixing them through assigned HoDs, we can ensure farmers receive timely payments without hardship,” Raveendra said after inspecting procurement centres and rice mills in Jagtial district on Thursday.