TN BJP seeks white paper on paddy procurement, urges Stalin govt to speed up PM's fortified rice scheme

Chennai, Oct 23 (IANS) Tamil Nadu BJP spokesperson A.N.S. Prasad urged the state government to swiftly implement the Union government’s Fortified Rice Distribution Scheme and release a white paper outlining its stance and actions on paddy procurement.

In a statement, Prasad accused Food Minister R. Sakkarapani of “peddling filtered falsehoods” by claiming that the delay in Central approval for mixing fortified rice had caused the piling up of paddy bags in godowns.

“Before resorting to blame-shifting, the Minister should explain what fortified rice is and why the Modi government has mandated its distribution to address nutritional deficiencies,” Prasad said.

He said the fortified rice initiative -- containing iron, folic acid, and Vitamin B12 -- was introduced to combat anaemia and improve public health, particularly among the poor.

The Centre, he pointed out, issued fresh guidelines on July 29 for the 2025-26 procurement season, but the Tamil Nadu government acted only on October 7 by placing an order for 34,000 metric tonnes of fortified rice.

“This inexcusable 75-day delay has hurt both farmers and the public,” he said.

The BJP leader accused Minister Sakkarapani of misleading the public by alleging that the Centre had not cleared the fortified rice samples sent for quality assurance, while contractors had only dispatched the samples to Delhi recently.

He also noted that Agriculture Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam had contradicted Sakkarapani’s claims by attributing the procurement delay to an “unprecedented” rise in paddy production.

“Every time the DMK regime’s failures are exposed, Sakkarapani resorts to mudslinging against the Centre instead of fixing the system,” Prasad charged, adding that the government had failed to expand procurement centres, maintain godowns properly, or arrange temporary storage facilities.

He said the DMK’s administrative lapses in both agriculture and food departments had caused distress among farmers, while corruption and commissions at procurement centres remained unaddressed.

“Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin tweets about the Dravidian model’s achievements but stays silent on farmer suicides and anti-farmer policies,” he said.

Calling for an end to “political deflection”, Prasad urged the state to speed up quality approvals from Delhi, streamline paddy procurement, and fully implement the fortified rice scheme to ensure an anaemia-free Tamil Nadu.

--IANS

aal/dpb