Centre ups procurement target: Too little too late

Hyderabad: The BJP government at the Centre finally succumbed to the relentless efforts of the Telangana government on Tuesday and revised the procurement target of raw rice by a mere six lakh tonnes i.e. a total 46 lakh tonnes under the central pool for Vaanakalam marketing season of 2021-22. The decision, however, is a case […]

Hyderabad: The BJP government at the Centre finally succumbed to the relentless efforts of the Telangana government on Tuesday and revised the procurement target of raw rice by a mere six lakh tonnes i.e. a total 46 lakh tonnes under the central pool for Vaanakalam marketing season of 2021-22.

The decision, however, is a case of too little too late since a majority of farmers had already resorted to distress sale to traders in several parts of the State. The union government, through the Food Corporation of India (FCI), had set a target of 40 lakh tonnes of raw rice i.e. about 60 lakh tonnes of paddy for Vaanakalam 2021-22 for Telangana State.

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Farmers in Telangana, however, had cultivated paddy in about 62 lakh acres which in turn resulted in estimated paddy production of about 1.3 crore tonnes. The State government has been requesting the Centre to enhance the paddy procurement target to at least 90 lakh tonnes i.e. 60 lakh tonnes of raw rice.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao adopted a multi-pronged approach to pressurise the Centre to enhance the paddy procurement targets. Apart from highlighting the callous approach of the union government to the woes of farmers by taking up protests both inside and outside the Parliament, he sent a delegation of Ministers and MPs to Delhi to pursue the issue with the Centre, and demanded a written assurance as the BJP government has a history of going back on its word. Despite the Ministers staying put in Delhi for nearly a week, there was no specific response from the Centre.

While the Centre’s latest orders appear to have been issued following mounting pressure from the State, the delayed decision definitely had an adverse impact on the income of farmers to a large extent. Due to the delayed decision, many farmers had sold their produce to traders for prices lower than the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 1,888 per tonne.

The Centre, instead of coming to the rescue of the Telangana farmers, advised the State government advised to discourage paddy cultivation in the State. The Centre made it clear that no parboiled rice that is mostly produced in Telangana during Yasangi season will be procured from the State. Earlier, the Chief Minister as well as Ministers and TRS MPs representing the State took up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Piyush Goyal, seeking the Centre’s support for an agrarian State like Telangana.

With the union government not responding and the fate of farmers remaining uncertain, the Chief Minister himself sat on a dharna last month. TRS elected representatives along with farmers took to the streets, demanding that the Centre procure the increased paddy produce.

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