Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has accused the Centre of adopting double standards on the issue of rice procurement without giving clarity even on lifting the paddy/rice produced in the Khairf (Vanakalam) this year.
He stated that he would write to the Prime Minister as also Union Minister of Food and Public Distribution on Wednesday on behalf of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi Legislature Party, seeking Centre’s clarity on procuring rice produced this Kharif season, on the rice to be produced in Rabi (Yasangi) season as the Centre lifts entire paddy/rice produced in Punjab.
The Legislature Party meeting of TRS held here on Tuesday also decided to hold a ‘maha-dharna’ at the Dharna Chowk near Indira Park on November 18, seeking Centre’s clarity and State BJP’d stand on the issue. All MLAs, MLCs, MPs, Zilla Parishad Chairpersons, Cooperative Bank chairpersons, nominated post holders (chairpersons of various corporations) would participate in the protest from 11 am to 2 pm and submit a memorandum to the Governor.
In case there was no response from the Centre in two days after the protest, the State Government would give clarity to the farming community whether to raise paddy in Rabi or not as farmers would start raising nurseries immediately after ‘anuradha karthi’ later this month. He stated that farmers would suffer loss by raising paddy if the Centre refused to procure rice produced in Rabi.
While educating the farmers to go for alternative crops, the TRS would also wage a struggle against the Centre and State BJP at every appropriate forum, questioning Centre’s discrimination against States in the matter of rice procurement. He pointed out that the Centre had forced the State Government to give an undertaking on not supplying boiled rice in Rabi from this year as a pre-condition to lift the rice produced in the last Rabi season.
Visit questioned
Questioning the rationale behind State BJP president Bandi Sanjay’s visit to paddy procurement centres, the Chief Minister sought to know for what purpose he had undertaken the visit when the procurement of paddy produced in Kharif had already commenced.
He stated that harvesting was done only in 10% of the extent so far out of 62 lakh acres in which paddy was raised in Kharif.
About 4,500 procurement centres were already opened out of over 6,600 proposed in spite of lack of clarity on the quantity of rice to be lifted by the Centre (FCI). They had agreed to lift rice produced in Kharif but had not specified the quantity so far, in spite of repeated requests, the Chief Minister said.
Criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party for allegedly instigating attacks by its activists and goons on farmers at the procurements centres, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao said it would backfire seriously on the party in the days to come.
On the presence of TRS workers there, he sought know whether TRS workers won’t have lands, can’t produce paddy and bring it to procurement centres for its disposal when the party had about 60 lakh membership.
“They will definitely question Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, asking whether they stand by the call given to farmers to go for paddy cultivation itself in Rabi and whether they will convince the Centre to lift rice (boiled) produced in Rabi”, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao said.