Centre owes Kerala Rs 637cr as worth of paddy procured: Minister G R Anil
4 min readBy Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a brand new twist to the raging controversy over non-payment of paddy procurement worth to farmers, Food and Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil has mentioned the Union authorities owed Kerala Rs 637.6 crore as its share of procurement worth from earlier years.
“The issue was raised with the Centre, but to no avail,” he advised a press convention in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. The matter will probably be raised once more with the Union meals secretary, who will probably be in Kerala on September 6, he mentioned.
The minister additionally blamed some farmers’ collectives for the delay in submitting particulars of paddy equipped. All the problems will probably be averted subsequent season, he mentioned.
Anil mentioned 7,31,184 tonnes of paddy had been procured from 2,50,373 farmers in 2022-23. So far, Rs 1,854 crore was distributed to 2,30,000 farmers. The cost was accomplished for all procurements under Rs 50,000. The pending dues, Rs 216 crore, will probably be remitted to the farmers’ financial institution accounts quickly. The controversy over the delay in cost to farmers was triggered by actor Jayasurya at a perform in Kochi attended by Industries Minister P Rajeeve and Agriculture Minister P Prasad.
Though Rajeeve had replied to the actor on the venue itself and Prasad the following day, the controversy lingered on. “The government had to rely on banks for the payment as the central share was delayed. We had entered into agreements with a consortium of selected banks for the payment. But the banks also delayed payment,” Anil mentioned.
Anil mentioned the preliminary settlement was to distribute Rs 700 crore by way of State Bank of India (SBI), Canara Bank and Federal Bank. A second settlement was signed to distribute Rs 280 crore as properly. However, the banks didn’t remit the quantities to farmers’ accounts earlier than Onam. SBI defaulted on cost of Rs 12 crore, Canara Bank Rs 7 crore and Federal Bank Rs 6 crore.
Until August 30, as per an settlement signed on August 24, the SBI distributed Rs 3.04 crore to 465 farmers. Canara Bank distributed Rs 38.32 crore to 4,000 farmers on August 24. The minister mentioned farmers shouldn’t fear in regards to the cost of procurement worth by means of financial institution loans. The Paddy Receipt Sheet (PRS) mortgage is not going to create any legal responsibility to farmers. The authorities will bear the complete curiosity, he added.
Direct profit switch of Centre’s share
The National Farmers Protection Committee (NFPC), attributes the lengthy delay in clearing famers’ dues to the state authorities’s mismanagement. “The Supplyco started procurement in 2005 and we used to get money within two months till 2021. The issue started with Supplyco facing a financial crisis due to the free food kit distribution. The organisation diverted funds to foot the bills of suppliers,” mentioned its basic secretary Pandiyode Prabhakaran. The organisation has now approached the Centre demanding direct profit switch of its central share to farmers’ accounts.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a brand new twist to the raging controversy over non-payment of paddy procurement worth to farmers, Food and Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil has mentioned the Union authorities owed Kerala Rs 637.6 crore as its share of procurement worth from earlier years.
“The issue was raised with the Centre, but to no avail,” he advised a press convention in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. The matter will probably be raised once more with the Union meals secretary, who will probably be in Kerala on September 6, he mentioned.
The minister additionally blamed some farmers’ collectives for the delay in submitting particulars of paddy equipped. All the problems will probably be averted subsequent season, he mentioned. googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );
Anil mentioned 7,31,184 tonnes of paddy had been procured from 2,50,373 farmers in 2022-23. So far, Rs 1,854 crore was distributed to 2,30,000 farmers. The cost was accomplished for all procurements under Rs 50,000. The pending dues, Rs 216 crore, will probably be remitted to the farmers’ financial institution accounts quickly. The controversy over the delay in cost to farmers was triggered by actor Jayasurya at a perform in Kochi attended by Industries Minister P Rajeeve and Agriculture Minister P Prasad.
Though Rajeeve had replied to the actor on the venue itself and Prasad the following day, the controversy lingered on. “The government had to rely on banks for the payment as the central share was delayed. We had entered into agreements with a consortium of selected banks for the payment. But the banks also delayed payment,” Anil mentioned.
Anil mentioned the preliminary settlement was to distribute Rs 700 crore by way of State Bank of India (SBI), Canara Bank and Federal Bank. A second settlement was signed to distribute Rs 280 crore as properly. However, the banks didn’t remit the quantities to farmers’ accounts earlier than Onam. SBI defaulted on cost of Rs 12 crore, Canara Bank Rs 7 crore and Federal Bank Rs 6 crore.
Until August 30, as per an settlement signed on August 24, the SBI distributed Rs 3.04 crore to 465 farmers. Canara Bank distributed Rs 38.32 crore to 4,000 farmers on August 24. The minister mentioned farmers shouldn’t fear in regards to the cost of procurement worth by means of financial institution loans. The Paddy Receipt Sheet (PRS) mortgage is not going to create any legal responsibility to farmers. The authorities will bear the complete curiosity, he added.
Direct profit switch of Centre’s share
The National Farmers Protection Committee (NFPC), attributes the lengthy delay in clearing famers’ dues to the state authorities’s mismanagement. “The Supplyco started procurement in 2005 and we used to get money within two months till 2021. The issue started with Supplyco facing a financial crisis due to the free food kit distribution. The organisation diverted funds to foot the bills of suppliers,” mentioned its basic secretary Pandiyode Prabhakaran. The organisation has now approached the Centre demanding direct profit switch of its central share to farmers’ accounts.
