DPC not on govt land, TNCSC stops procurement at Vanakambadi

VELLORE: The TN Civil Supplies Corporation sticking to the rule that DPCs should only be operated on government land has reportedly resulted in nearly 10,000 bags of paddy weighing 75 kg each lying with farmers at Vanakambadi village panchayat of Arcot taluk in Ranipet district.

Farmer VS Sankaran said that he wrote to Collector D Baskara Pandian on September 26 requesting to procure sornavari paddy stock immediately. Though the district administration announced that 34 DPCs would be opened from September 5, they were opened only on September 19.

What galled farmers was that in addition to the delay in operating the DPC, officials brought the necessary equipment to the spot followed by gunny bags a day later. Suddenly without ascribing any reason, the sacks were taken away on September 19 leaving the machinery alone at the location.

When Sankaran checked with TNCSC officials, he was told that the Vanakambadi DPC site was unsuitable – though it is one of the 34 DPCs listed for Ranipet district – as the land belonged to a temple. “When I informed officials that due to lack of government site, a temple land was used as a DPC for years, officials failed to heed to it,” Sankaran added.

The farmer told DT Next, “Earlier, when we approached the DPC at Vanakambadi soon after it was opened, the official there collected our records and entered them in a register, but failed to upload them in the tab as only then farmers would we be intimated as to when they should offload paddy at the DPC.

Meanwhile, Vanakambadi village panchayat president K Raji and vice president C Rajasekar wrote a letter to the Collector requesting to bring the DPC equipment back to the site and procure the paddy from farmers.

Even during the special gram sabha meet at the village on Independence Day, members passed a resolution to open a DPC or a mobile DPC at Vanakambadi to procure harvested paddy. Efforts to contact Collector Baskara Pandian or TNCSC’s Vellore regional manager Raja for their reply to the issue proved futile.