Government to procure paddy in Kuttanad
With the stalemate in paddy procurement in Kuttanad continuing, the government has decided to procure the harvested crop directly. According to District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan, Revenue, Police, Transport and Agriculture departments among others would help the Civil Supplies department to procure the paddy from the fields and store it in granaries owned by the State Warehousing Corporation. The process would begin at 8 a.m. from the Pandarakalam junction on the Alappuzha-Changanassery Road on Friday. The district administration had made arrangements including trucks, boats and other necessary equipment to ensure smooth progress of the procedure, Mr. Balakrishnan said after a meeting on the issue held in his chambers here on Thursday. Procurement of harvested paddy in Kuttanad had run into rough weather after mills contracted by the Civil Supplies department stopped procuring the crop asking for payment of pending bills and a rise in handling charges among other demands.This resulted in several truckloads of paddy lying unprotected from rain across Kuttanad, where the harvest of the additional crop is still on in around 8,000 hectares out of the 10,000-plus hectares. According to District Principal Agriculture Officer P.S. Soman, 22 truckloads were ready for immediate procurement while the quantity was rising by the day since the harvest was progressing at a fast pace. The process was over in around 2,500 hectares, from where about 3,000 tonnes of paddy had already been procured.
The Hindu, 17th October 2008
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