Food and Civil Supplies Minister R. Sakkarapani continued to inspect direct purchase centres (DPCs) in the Delta districts for the second consecutive day on Friday.

The Minister’s visit comes amidst complaints over sluggish movement of paddy from the DPCs to godowns. Mr. Sakkarapani visited various DPCs in Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts on Friday and verified the procurement process. He instructed the officials to move the paddy procured from farmers to godowns without delay and rectify complaints, if any, aired by farmers.

Speaking at a review meeting with officials in Nagapattinam, Mr. Sakkarapani said that 41,062 tonnes of paddy had been procured from farmers through the 117 DPCs during the kharif season in Nagapattinam district so far. Of this, 26,713 tonnes of paddy had been moved to godowns. About ₹87.74 crore had been paid to 6,300 farmers for the paddy procured. Last year, only 23 DPCs were opened and just 5,440 tonnes procured during the kuruvai season.

Earlier, Mr. Sakkarapani, accompanied by Satyabrata Sahoo, Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies, A. Annadurai, Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, and P. Akash, District Collector, inspected the operations of DPCs at Thirupoondi West and Seeyathamangai, according to an official press release.