Union Minister Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar during his recent visit to the CCI procurement centre in Guntur district. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Union Minister draws CCI’s attention to delayed cotton procurement in Andhra Pradesh

Cotton Corporation of India deploys senior officials for enhanced oversight and special monitoring of the procument process

by · The Hindu

Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, in a statement on Monday, November 18, here in Guntur, expressed serious dissatisfaction over the delay in cotton procurement at the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) centres.

Dr. Chandra Sekhar sought explanations from officials regarding the reasons for the delay and also interacted with affected farmers via phone to understand the challenges they face. He recently visited some of the CCI’s procurement centres.

Farmers from the region alleged that P. Amarnath Reddy General Manager (Branch Head), CCI Guntur, was deliberately causing delays and creating hardships for them.

Responding to their grievances, Dr. Chandra Sekhar took the issue to Union Minister of Textile Giriraj Singh and CCI Chairman and Managing Director Lalit Kumar Gupta, lodging an official complaint against Mr. Amarnath Reddy’s negligent approach. 

The Central government promptly intervened, deploying senior CCI officials to address the matter. Instructions were issued for enhanced oversight and special monitoring to ensure the smooth functioning of cotton procurement processes.

Meanwhile, Mr. Amarnath Reddy maintained that there was no delay in the procurement of the cotton and that the process had already started across the State. He said: “The only hurdle we are facing from the farmers is that they have been bringing cotton with high moisture content. The CCI guidelines suggest that cotton with a moisture content between 8% and 12% should be procured. But, some of the farmers have been bringing cotton with more than 12% moisture. Our only appeal to the farmers is to bring dry cotton with a moisture content not exceeding 12%. High moisture is the only hurdle in cotton procurement for Minimum Support Price operations”.

Published - November 18, 2024 07:56 pm IST