Hyderabad: The Union government rejection of the long-awaited demand for the establishment of a turmeric council in Nizamabad could blow up on the BJP’s face with the move resulting in widespread protests by turmeric farmers in the state, even while TRS MPs center was tasked with The parliament Tuesday.
The issue jumped into a major controversy when the center reiterated its decision in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The TRS MPs made a strong pitch for the board in Nizamabad, while turmeric farmers in the state burned images of Central Government and Nizamabad MP D Arvind in protest against the rejection and demanded that the MP resign because he did not did not fulfill major election promises. .
The Minister of Agriculture of the Union, Narendra Singh Tomar, announced in the Rajya Sabha on Monday that there are no proposals for the establishment of the Turmeric Board, which received strong opposition in parliament as well as in the state on Tuesday. The issue was raised separately by TRS Lok Sabha floor leader Nama Nageshwar Rao and Congressman N Uttam Kumar Reddy separately during Question Time in the House of Commons and questioned the center’s indifference to protecting the interests of turmeric farmers and the reasons why the council was not set up.
In his reply, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the center upgraded its branch office in Nizamabad in February last year to a regional office cum expansion center to promote turmeric as well as other spices with the focus on research, development, post-harvest operations, marketing and exports in the region.
He stated that several development programs are being implemented for spices under the Mission for Integrated Horticultural Development (MIDH), including the establishment of the new garden (expansion of the area), micro-irrigation, organic farming, creation of water resources, management after harvest, development of market yards and human resource development, among others to enable farmers to get remunerated prices for turmeric harvest.
The Minister of Agriculture of the Union, Purushotham Rupala, filled in for his senior and said that the Regional Office of the Spice Board already handles almost 50 spices including turmeric and that no separate borer board is needed. Regarding the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), he said the Central Government would approve it if the state government sent a proposal. He tried to place the blame on the state government for the act of the center because he claims that there is no proposal to seek MIS for turmeric from Telangana.
However, MPs from the TRS and Congress expressed dissatisfaction with the response and asked for specific clarity on the center’s failure to set up a Turmeric Board. They pointed out that the Spice Board Regional Office in Nizamabad only provides export licenses, and that a dedicated Turmeric Board can handle all the problems that farmers face and provide the necessary support with regard to cultivation and exports.
Nageshwara Rao pointed out that farmers have been stirring for a separate turmeric council for years. “We have raised the issue loudly, but may not speak. “We pointed out that the former MP K Kavitha had raised the issue repeatedly in the previous Lok Sabha, but there was no response from the Union government,” he told Telangana Today.
He said that during the last Lok Sabha election in Telangana State, the Ministers of the Union, Rajnath Singh and Prakash Javedkar, gave the BJP candidates a specific assurance that a Turmeric Board would be established. “We will continue to address the issue in parliament in the coming days, and if the center does not concede, we will decide on future action,” he said.
Meanwhile, Arvind, in conversation with the media in New Delhi, virtually washed his hands of the matter with the claim that the BJP government is taking all measures in the best interest of turmeric farmers.
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Source: Telangana Today