Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today announced e-procurement of paddy at an outlay of Rs 13.43 crore to address systemic deficiencies which affect farmers at Direct Paddy Procurement Centres.
Stating that paddy procurement data will be fully digitised, she said sufficient infrastructure will be in place, including Point of Sale (PoS) machines, computers, printers and electronic weighing scales which would enhance the productivity of Direct Paddy Procurement Centres (DPPCs).
New buildings in 50 DPPCs will be built this year at Rs 20 crore.
In a suo motu statement in the state assembly, she said farmers could register their contact and paddy cultivation details through Common Service Centres and an SMS would be sent to them indicating the date and time for bringing paddy to DPPCs.
This would eliminate long waiting hours at DPPCs for farmers. Also, the payout will remitted to their bank accounts through ECS.
She said a modern rice mill with an annual milling capacity of 30,000 tonnes will be set up at Valangaiman in Tiruvarur district at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore.
Also, two warehouses will be built with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes at Kottur and Needamangalam in Tiruvarur at a cost of Rs 40 crore to store foodgrains.
Such godowns will have conveyors, stackers and (mechanised) loaders to ease the work load of labourers. She said silos to store paddy will be set up in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts.
Additionally, a total of five godowns with a capacity of 16,600 tonnes will be set up in Tirunelveli, Vellore, Namakkal, Sivaganga and Cuddalore districts at a cost of Rs 18.50 crore for use of farmers, traders and Food Corporation of India.
She also announced new buildings for 90 Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Societies.
