50,000 bags of procured paddy left to rot in rain, farmers blame TNCSC staff

The lethargic attitude of the TNCSC officials who delayed the loading of procured paddy through DPCs to the rice mills, spoiled over 50,000 bags of paddy worth Rs 1 crore stored in an open air godown near Kumbakonam on Sunday.

The Thanjavur district farmers undertook Kuruvai, Samba and Thalady cultivation for which harvest was almost complete for kuruvai and the procurement is underway through 350 DPCs. According to official sources in Thanjavur, 7.50 lakh MT paddy has been procured in 2020 while during the market year in 2021 (October 1 to September 31) 10.50 MT paddy procured and from October 1 to November 30, a stock of 3 lakh MT paddy was procured in the district.

While most of the stocks till September 2021 were sent for hulling, the latest procured paddy were stocked in five permanent godowns and 24 temporary open air godowns and they are being loaded to mills.

In such a backdrop, the stocks in one such open air godown at Sannapuram near Kumbakonam had been completely drenched in heavy rains which lashed across the region for the past few days and around 50,000 bags weighing 10,000 tonnes worth Rs 1 crore were spoiled.

Farmers claim that the officials and the staff of TNCSC were in a lethargic attitude in protecting the paddy procured by the government.

“Even though, there was heavy rain warning, the staff had no interest on savings the stocks well in advance and this resulted in a heavy loss to the government,” felt MA Bharathi, CPI district secretary.

Bharathi also urged the government to instruct the TNCSC officials to save the remaining paddy stocks in the safer places as the rainy season is not over.