PMK founder S. Ramadoss on Sunday criticised the State government for agreeing to the Centre’s demand for handing over the authority to procure grains in all districts, except the Cauvery delta districts, to the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF). In a statement, he called it a “betrayal by the DMK” towards the farmers in the State.

“If the rights for paddy procurement in Tamil Nadu are transferred to NCCF, farmers in the state will suffer irreparable losses,” he said. Since the NCCF lacked the infrastructure necessary for direct paddy procurement in Tamil Nadu, it would have to rely on private traders and middlemen for procurement, which would prevent complete procurement of the paddy produced by farmers, he explained.

“Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation operates 3,148 direct paddy procurement centres across the State, along with 367 warehouses with a combined storage capacity of 18.08 lakh tonnes for the procured paddy. However, even with this infrastructure, only one-third of the 120 lakh tonnes of paddy produced annually in Tamil Nadu can be procured,” he said.

According to him, while paddy procured through the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation receives an inventive of up to ₹130 per quintal over and above the price set by the Central government, the incentive will not be provided when paddy is procured by a Central government agency.

Dr. Ramadoss said the Central government must allow paddy procurement to be carried out by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation.

“Since farmers receive various benefits, including incentives, when paddy is procured through State governments, the Central government should not attempt to undermine this system by procuring paddy through the NCCF. If the Central government does not agree to this, the Tamil Nadu government should take steps to procure paddy using its own funds,” he said.