Paddy procurement crosses target in Telangana, reaches 82 lakh tonnes
The Hindu
Produce worth ₹16K crore purchased from about 12.5 lakh ryots, says Civil Supplies Corporation Chairman
Paddy procurement during the ongoing 2020-21 rabi (yasangi) marketing season has surpassed the target of 80 lakh tonnes and has reached 82 lakh tonnes with another 3-4 lakh tonnes expected to arrive at the purchase centres. Chairman of the Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation M. Srinivas Reddy said here on Monday that they had crossed the target and the achievement was 101% already despite the adverse conditions, including the COVID-19 spread, lockdown and untimely rains, shortage of ‘hamalis’, lorries and drivers and disproportionate (lower) milling capacity. Compared to the last rabi season the paddy purchases were already 20% higher, Mr. Reddy said adding that the 82 lakh tonnes produce of the staple food crop worth ₹16,000 crore was purchased from about 12.5 lakh farmers through 6,962 procurement centres. Of the purchased paddy, 78 lakh tonnes had already been moved to mills overcoming various problems, he noted.Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.