Centre plans to impose new rule on CCI
Hyderabad: The Centre continues to discriminate farmers in the State. While the Union government had recently forced the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to issue orders preventing the Telangana government to provide additional incentive for fine variety paddy above the Minimum Support Price (MSP), it appears to have pressurised the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to impose new rules on cotton purchases detrimental to the interests of farmers in general and tenant farmers in particular.
It may be recalled that the FCI which had procured over 83 lakh tonnes paddy during last year, had recently revised the guidelines. In October this year, the Corporation refused to purchase paddy from the State government if it offered any additional incentive above the MSP to farmers for their fine variety paddy.
In latest guidelines, the CCI issued orders making it mandatory for the farmers or their blood relatives to bring their cotton produce to the purchase centres. Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy revealed this to the media on Sunday stating that farmers personally might not to be able to transport and sell their produce to the CCI at the purchase centres during the current Covid-19 pandemic. He also pointed out that many tenant farmers who cultivated cotton, will find it difficult to sell their produce as they cannot prove the ownership of their cotton crop.
The Minister alleged that the Centre was indirectly resorting to blackmailing the State government against offering additional financial incentive to purchase paddy. “Now, the CCI which lauded cotton produced in the State as one of the finest quality in the country, is creating trouble for farmers and trying to avoid purchasing cotton crop from the State,” he added. He welcomed the decision of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao to support farmers in their just fight against the agriculture laws brought by the Centre.
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