TRICHY: Tamil Maanila Congress (M) president G K Vasan on Wednesday raked up the issue of commission being taken from farmers by the staff of direct procurement centres (DPCs).
The staff, who are paid by the government, take a commission of Rs 40 per sack of paddy, Vasan said in a statement The collection of commission by the employees of DPCs affected farmers, he said.
Vasan said the delta districts farmers were harvesting paddy cultivated with borewell water.
The farmers were in deep trouble as their expenses on paddy cultivation exceeded their income, he said.
They also incurred an expense of Rs 1,000 per vehicle for loading and unloading paddy, he added.
Vasan demanded that the state government open more DPCs to enable the farmers to sell their produce.
Vasan’s statement comes a couple of days after minister of agriculture and farmers’ welfare M R K Panneerselvam said that “if you ask a stupid question, you will get a stupid reply” when a journalist raised the issue of the commission at DPCs.