Hyderabad, May 18 (PTI) The Telangana government would purchase paddy that turned wet due to recent rains and the farmers need not worry about it, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Wednesday.

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Rao, who held a review meeting on paddy procurement, asked officials about gunny bags, transportation and other aspects of the issue, an official release said.

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The Chief Minister directed that paddy procurement be speeded up as rainy season is approaching.

The officials informed the Chief Minister that a target of 56 lakh metric tonne of paddy has been fixed for procurement. They said 20 lakh metric tonne has been procured so far.

Observing that appropriate precautions should be taken as the harvested paddy is getting wet in view of unseasonal rains at some places in the state, Rao said the state government would purchase wet paddy till the last grain regardless of expenditure.

Rao reiterated that the state government would purchase boiled rice from farmers without being concerned about expenditure and whether the Centre purchased the grains or not, the release said.

The opposition Congress has attacked the TRS government for putting the farmers to inconvenience against the backdrop of rainfall by not completing paddy procurement expeditiously.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)