Overview
- Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, who toured purchase centres Thursday, ordered collectors to requisition trucks and lorries to move paddy faster.
- The minister said the government will buy every quintal at the Minimum Support Price and reported payments of Rs 4,600 crore to 3.84 lakh farmers with thousands of centres operating toward a 90 lakh tonne goal.
- BJP leaders say the state has procured only 17.28 lakh tonnes so far and report grain spoiling in yards, underpayments linked to moisture cuts, and a shortage of gunny bags.
- Reddy blamed slow lifting on a shortage of hamali loaders after many migrant workers from Bihar and West Bengal left for elections, and he expects the pace to improve as labor returns.
- In Karimnagar, MLA Gangula Kamalakar said maize and paddy remain stuck in markets, which is pushing some farmers to sell maize to middlemen for Rs 1,600 to Rs 1,800 against the Rs 2,400 support price.