Hyderabad: With the monsoon arriving 15 days early, chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday directed senior officials and district collectors to expedite the remaining 10% of paddy procurement to avoid loss to farmers and disruption due to rains. He also urged officials to prevent any loss of life or property, and to control seasonal diseases and potential Covid-19 resurgence.Addressing a video-conference with ministers and collectors at the command control centre, Revanth congratulated the agriculture and civil supplies departments and farmers for a record paddy yield of 2.75 crore metric tonnes. He highlighted that the Congress govt had procured 21.5 lakh metric tonnes more than the previous year, crediting Rs 12,184 crore directly into farmers’ accounts within 48 hours.So far, 64.5 lakh metric tonnes—90% of the season’s yield—have been procured. “Ensure that every grain is collected. If needed, hire local godowns to prevent rain-related delays. Farmers must not suffer due to storage issues,” he said.Revanth also addressed politically motivated misinformation campaigns, warning against false projections of farmer deaths as procurement-related suicides. “Such malicious claims should be countered effectively. Book cases if necessary,” he directed.Health readinessAnticipating heavy rains, the CM directed GHMC, police, traffic, electricity, and disaster response teams to stay alert. Due to early rains and a 29% rainfall surplus forecast, Revanth ordered timely availability of seeds and fertilisers.“Take strong action against black marketing and those selling spurious seeds. If needed, book habitual offenders under the PD Act,” he said. District collectors must visit fields, raise farmer awareness, and appoint special officers to monitor stocks.Housing and land reformsRevanth asked officials to create awareness about the Bhu Bharati Act through public meetings, and to conduct the third phase of revenue sadassus (meetings) from June 3 to 20.On the Indiramma Indlu housing scheme, he said: “District collectors must oversee implementation. Mandal-level price control committees should monitor construction material costs.”He directed in-charge ministers to tour districts on May 29–30 and submit reports by June 1.
