Centre-Telangana impasse over paddy continues

HYDERABAD: The impasse between the state and central government over procurement of Vaanakalam (Kharif) paddy remained unresolved even on Tuesday with TRS ministers and MPs insisting that the central government give a written assurance and the Union food and public distribution minister Piyush Goyal seeking a couple of days to get back to them after discussing the issue with the officials.
As a result, clarity continued to evade on how much more paddy (rice) the centre would purchase from Telangana in addition to its promised 60 lakh metric tonnes. Even the delegation of TRS ministers and MPs said they would stay back in New Delhi until the ministry gives a written assurance on how much paddy it will lift from Telangana. The delegation has been in Delhi since Saturday
However, the Union minister reiterated that the centre will not buy boiled rice from Telangana from the ensuing Yasangi (Rabi) season.
Giving details of the meeting with Piyush Telangana agriculture minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy said they told the Union minister that whether to continue procurement of paddy in Telangana or close the procurement centres would depend on the written assurance of the central government.
“Should we continue to buy paddy from farmers. If we have to do so, we need written assurance from the Centre that it will buy all the paddy procured by the Telangana government from the farmers. We insisted for written assurance because we need to pay to the farmers within three days after procuring paddy from them. So, if the centre makes a U-turn and asks who asked you to buy more than 60 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, then it will be a problem for the state government,” he said.
The TRS ministerial-cum-MPs delegation also informed the Union minister that the state government has almost procured 60 lakh metric tonnes of paddy which the centre had earlier promised to buy. Also, there is another 12 lakh metric tonnes paddy lying near procurement centres which needs to be purchased and paddy crop in 5 lakh acres is still to be harvested. The procurement will continue till January 15, if the Centre gives written assurance to purchase it.
Niranjan Reddy said they also explained to the union minister that state BJP leaders including union tourism minister G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay were playing politics and misleading him by blaming that Telangana failed to give rice of last yasangi season.
“It is due to the delay on the part of Food Corporation of India to lift rice stocks from the state government, and delay on the part of the union government to give rail rakes to transport rice stocks from the state that the full quota of rice was not taken from Telangana. Piyush Goyal directed the railway officials to give rail rakes and also instructed the FCI authorities to speed up lifting of last Yasangi;’s rice from Telangana,” Niranjan Reddy said.
Refusing to counter what Goyal said against the Telangana government following his meeting with state BJP leaders, Niranjan Reddy said: “Being a Telangana bidda, union minister G Kishan Reddy is speaking irresponsibly or play politics. The state BJP is trying to rake up dispute instead of prevailing upon the centre to continue the paddy procurement process smoothly. It is the BJP, which is playing politics by not helping the Telangana farmers paddy to be procured by the centre. Why will TRS play politics when our government policies resulted in the farmers producing a record 3 crore metric tonnes paddy in a year. We want every grain purchased from farmers,” Niranjan Reddy said.