THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cabinet decision rejected CPI's position that paddy should not be procured through primary cooperative societies. Primary cooperatives will procure paddy directly from farmers and pay the price. Co-operatives will be paid later by SupplyCo. Funds required for this will be given to SupplyCo through Kerala Bank. The advantage is that complaints that farmers are not getting money can be avoided through this method.

The Cabinet meeting held yesterday tasked the Chief Secretary to discuss and decide on the settlement of the debt of 855 crores that Supplyco should pay back to Kerala Bank and the loan arrears to be given by Supplyco to the banking consortium. An order will be issued for the procurement of paddy as soon as the decision is taken regarding this.

However, CPI has taken the stand that it is enough to directly procure paddy through Supplyco as in previous years. The aim was to avoid CPM interference in the department they were handling. However, CPM was of the opinion that farmers will get money immediately and grievances can be avoided if paddy was procured through primary groups. Supplyco's action of excluding Kerala Bank and joining a consortium of banks led by SBI had led to criticism. There was a demand for rice procurement through cooperative societies to solve this.

Opposition in the Cabinet Sub-Committee

The Cabinet sub-committee meeting to discuss the implementation of the first crop paddy procurement under the leadership of the Cooperation Department broke up without a decision following CPI's opposition. The discussion was held by a committee comprising ministers VN Vasavan, GR Anil and P Prasad. The sub-committee had earlier agreed to pay the price to the farmers in collaboration with Kerala Bank after procuring paddy through cooperative societies. This is what the cabinet discussed. It is reported that CPI did not raise much opposition in the cabinet.

Only Supplyco has experience

Neither the Co-operative Department nor the Primary Co-operatives have the experience and systems of SupplyCo in matters like negotiating with the mill owners and delivering the rice to godowns and ration shops after being milled. Hence such matters will continue to be handled by Supplyco itself. Last year, 7.26 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was procured from 2.5 lakh farmers in the state.

"The support price of rice is increased by the Center from time to time. Kerala is already paying decent prices to paddy farmers. Currently, the support price in Kerala is Rs 28.20 per kg of paddy. Let the central share also rise to this level. The reason for the recovery of the devastated paddy cultivation in Kerala is the high procurement price paid by the state government".

- Minister GR Anil