Control room, toll-free helpline set up to resolve paddy procurement issues in Andhra Pradesh

The Andhra Pradesh government has set up a dedicated control room and launched a toll-free helpline number ‘1967’ to address grievances related to paddy procurement in the ongoing kharif season.

Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Nadendla Manohar on Tuesday announced that the government had so far procured 11.93 lakh MT of paddy from 1,77,934 farmers across the State. Payments amounting to ₹2,830 crore had already been credited into the farmers’ bank accounts, he said.

Mr. Manohar, who reviewed the functioning of the newly established control room here, said the helpline would operate from Monday to Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. “Farmers facing issues at the procurement centres can dial 1967 to receive immediate support,” the Minister said.

The helpline would address problems such as registration difficulties, delays in issuing tokens, weighing issues at RSKs or rice mills, pending FTO approvals, and shortages in transportation or gunnysacks, as well as instances where procurement activities were halted. “Complaints received will be officially recorded in the control room and forwarded to the officials concerned for resolution, with continuous follow-up until closure of the issue,” the Minister said.

Farmers were advised to keep their Aadhaar number, registration number, token number, village name, and RSK details ready while calling for assistance.

“Civil Supplies officials across districts are contacting farmers, rice millers and RSK operators at the mandal level to identify procurement-related issues and provide immediate directions,” the Minister said.

Civil Supplies Director R. Govindaraj, Administrative Manager G. Sirisha, and control room staff participated in the review programme.