CBI probe sought into cotton procurement in Telangana

The server glitches leading to stopping of cotton procurement by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) made the farmers sustain losses and the matter should be probed by the CBI

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: BRS leader Dr RS Praveen Kumar has called for a full-fledged probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the cotton procurement taken up this year. He addressed pressmen after interacting with cotton growers at a ginning mill in Sirpur (T) town on Tuesday.

Praveen Kumar alleged that cotton farmers were facing untold hardships ever since the Congress assumed power. He regretted that the rule of the Congress had become a bane to the farmers. He said that the farmers were being fleeced by traders after the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) stalled procurement citing glitches in servers of Aadhar.

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The leader said that the farmers were forced to sell their cotton to private traders for Rs 6,500 per quintal due to stoppage of the procurement and restrictions on procurement of the cotton by the CCI. He stated that a farmer was registering a loss around Rs 1,000 per quintal. Raising suspicion over the glitches in the servers, he sought compensation for the cotton farmers to compensate for their loss.

Praveen Kumar also suspected that a conspiracy might have been hatched by the CCI benefitting the traders. He criticized the elected representatives of the BJP and Congress parties for failing to address the problems of cotton growers. The BJP could not address the glitches though the CCI is controlled by the union government, he said, also slamming the Congress for delaying enhanced crop investment support to the farmers.

He demanded that the State government intervene and to ensure procurement was taken up till March 15. Else, the BRS and farmers would lay siege to the national highway, he warned.