Minister inspects modern rice mill

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies P. Venkataramanan on Thursday inspected the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation’s modern rice mill in Kadachanendhal.

The Minister said following the increase in procurement price of fine variety paddy to ₹2,750 per quintal, necessary steps were being taken to ensure that the public received high-quality fine variety rice. It involved immediate transportation of the procured paddy to rice mills for processing into quality rice for distribution.

The procurement price for paddy had been increased, keeping in mind the welfare of farmers. Accordingly, the procurement price had been fixed at ₹2,750 per quintal for fine variety paddy and ₹ 2,600 per quintal for common variety paddy, he said.

He said new warehouses were being opened to safeguard paddy. In Madurai district, an assessment had been conducted regarding stock and distribution of essential food items, including rice, lentils, and salt. Consultations were held with the district administration regarding issues such as rising food prices, shortages, and various issues raised by the public.

The progress would be reviewed and further actions would follow. The construction of warehouses had been expedited and steps were being taken to move paddy to the warehouses. The main objective was to prevent damage to paddy which when stored in the open was damaged due to rain or other environmental factors.

Monitoring and inspections were being conducted to curb price hikes and hoarding of essential food items. To ensure that essential food items were available to the public without shortage and to prevent hoarding, monitoring and inspections would be intensified, the Minister said.

Collector Nishant Krishna, Corporation Commissioner Gaurav Kumar and other officials were present.