Food and Civil Supplies Minister Venkatramanan on Tuesday said the government will take steps to ensure that ration shops receive quality rice.
The minister inspected the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation facility at Thimmavaram near Chengalpattu. Chengalpattu Collector Malathi Helen, MLA Thyagarajan, Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies Malarvizhi, District Revenue Officer Ganeshkumar and senior TNCSC officials were among those present.
Officials told the minister that the modern rice mill, designed to process 100 tonnes a day, is currently milling only about 30 tonnes due to staff shortages. They sought additional appointments and basic amenities for workers, including rest rooms and drinking water.
They also said the district has 171 direct paddy procurement centres, with paddy moved daily by 153 lorries to rice mills in other districts. Increasing the number of lorries operating daily at procurement centres was suggested to prevent bagged paddy from piling up.
Responding, the minister said action would be taken to enable the modern mill to reach its 100-tonne daily capacity. He added that paddy godowns would be set up to store farmers’ produce and instructed officials to ensure quality rice is supplied through ration shops.
