Tamil Nadu Plans 100 New Paddy Procurement Centres With AI, QR
An automatic stock monitoring system with the help of Artificial Intelligence would be formed to monitor the stock of grains and other commodities
Chennai: At a time when farmers seek speedy procurement of paddy without allowing them to be exposed to rains and moisture, Food and Civil Supplies Minister P. Venkatraman on Thursday announced the construction of 100 direct paddy procurement centres with a capacity of 250 metric tonnes with an allocation of Rs. 81 crore.
He said the number of direct paddy procurement centres would go up to 889 in the State after the construction of the 100 centres, which will have all the facilities like godowns, access roads, drinking water, equipment to measure moisture and conveyor belts. He further said 15 godowns to store 31,000 metric tonnes of food grains would be built with an estimated budget of Rs. 81 crore.
He said Tamil Nadu has issued 2.28 crore family cards with 7 crore beneficiaries and 61 lakh beneficiaries are getting 35 kilograms of free rice free of cost. Palmolein priced at Rs. 154 per kg is given to families at a cost of just Rs. 25 with a price subsidy of Rs. 129, he said.
Replying to the debate on the demands for grants in his department, the minister said three more modern godowns would come up at the already existing premises in Ariyalur, Namakkal and Mettupalayam and they would have a combined capacity of 3,400 metric tonnes built at a cost of Rs. 13 crore. He said 17 godowns would be renovated with a budget allocation of Rs. 12 crore.
He said QR code tagging of rice bags would be introduced to monitor and ensure the quality of custom milled rice. The quality of rice from the rice mills to the PDS units would be traced, Venkatraman said, adding a Vehicle Location Tracking System for the vehicles taking commodities to the ration shops would be introduced.
An automatic stock monitoring system with the help of Artificial Intelligence would be formed to monitor the stock of grains and other commodities. A mobile app-based Artificial Intelligence would be introduced to assess the quality of commodities such as rice, wheat, dhal and sugar. The minister also announced the setting up of 150 ration shops and face authentication machines would be provided at 150 shops for the benefit of senior citizens and differently-abled persons who have difficulty in using verification through fingerprints or eyes. A mobile app would be introduced to upload the details of inspections by the officials at PDS shops. A WhatsApp service with chatbot facility would be introduced for the benefit of consumers who could get proper information and find solutions to their problems.
He said rest lounges would be built for the workers at 10 godown premises and CCTV’s would be installed at 18 godowns to ensure full-time monitoring. Wooden crates would be provided to 12 godowns to protect the grains from ground moisture and ensure the quality of grains. The minister announced the planting of 5,000 tree saplings in 62 godown premises to provide a green environment.
