Chennai: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss charged that more than six lakh paddy bags have been lying at the direct procurement centres (DPCs) in Cauvery delta districts.In a post on X on Thursday, he said farmers who have harvested their paddy have been forced to wait day and night at DPCs due to inordinate delay in procurement of bags. Citing the meteorological department’s predicting of widespread rain in the delta districts over the next few days, he said if the paddy bags are not procured immediately, the bags will be damaged in the rain, and the farmers will suffer huge losses.He said that the wages paid to loading and unloading workers engaged in procuring and stacking paddy bags are low, resulting in an inadequate number of workers reporting for duty. With around 30% of the workers reporting for work at each DPC, barely 400 bags of paddy are being procured each day, instead of the usual 1,000 bags, he said.Anbumani said kuruvai harvesting has just begun in the Cauvery delta districts and that the number of paddy bags accumulating at DPCs will increase. The govt must take immediate steps to address these issues, he said.
