THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister P Prasad responds to actor Jayasurya's allegation that Supplyco did not pay farmers for paddy procurement. The minister said that the amount for paddy procurement was paid before Onam and falsehoods are being presented. Payment may have been delayed a little due to the mismanagement of the banks. Jayasurya should not have acted in front of people. Those who told all this through Jayasurya have a clear political agenda. The script was good, but the film failed said Minister P Prasad.

Jayasurya's allegation that actor Krishna Prasad has not received the price of paddy from Supplyco for six months is baseless, the minister said. Krishnaprasad has received the paddy procurement amount. The money reached the SBI account in Changanassery by April. The entire amount reached the account in three instalments. Supplyco paid Krishna Prasad Rs 1,57,686 for the procurement of 5568 kg of Uma rice, but Jayasurya said the payment was not made even after five to six months. State incentive and handling charges due by the state government have been paid to all. Now what is to be paid is about 240 crore rupees. A separate agreement was reached with Canara Bank to pay Rs 138 crore out of it. Prasad said that they have taken the responsibility of paying that money.

Actor Jayasurya criticized the suffering of the farmers at the agriculture festival organized in Kalamasery when the agriculture minister was on the stage. Minister P Rajeev was also present on the stage.

The plight of the farmers is not small. Some things will take a long time to reach Minister Prasad's ears. It's like saying that if a film fails, it will be the last thing a hero knows. This is not actor Jayasurya, but a common man reminding the minister of some things. I have a friend named actor Krishna Prasad. He lives by farming. He has not received any money from Supplyco after delivering the rice. They are fasting on the Thiruvonam day. Our farmers are starving on Thiruvonam day. They suffer like this to bring this to the eyes of the authorities. I am speaking for them. Youngsters of the new generation say that they don't like the stains of mud on their shirts. However, how can the new generation come to the field of agriculture after seeing their parents starving on Thiruvonam day? They will never come because they want their affairs to go well. The new generation will come to agriculture only if they can proudly say that they are farmers. Therefore, there should be action from the side of the government. The next thing is that there should be a system for quality checking here. If so, we can eat good food without eating poisonous vegetables,’ Jayasurya said.