Cong govt just confined to statements over paddy procurement : Kotha Prabhakar Reddy

Dubbak MLA Kotha Prabhakar Reddy alleged that delays in paddy procurement had pushed farmers into distress in Medak district. After visiting procurement centres, he accused rice mills and the Congress government of negligence, claiming farmers suffered health issues and financial losses

Medak: Dubbak MLA Kotha Prabhakar Reddy lamented that the Congress government had left paddy farmers in the lurch as procurement had been delayed for days. The MLA visited multiple procurement centres in Narsingi and Chegunta mandals on Sunday and interacted with farmers and procurement staff.

The farmers complained that at least two farmers had fallen seriously ill after waiting at the procurement centres for days. Even though they had complained to officials over the inordinate delay, the farmers told the MLA that there were no efforts to speed up procurement.

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Reddy said that Congress Ministers and MLAs had failed to ensure that procurement was fast-tracked. The MLA further said that the eight rice mills in the locality intentionally delayed unloading besides cutting one to two kg of additional paddy from bags, causing heavy losses to farmers.

Despite farmers staging dharnas and submitting representations, he said the government failed to change its approach. Reddy accused the Congress government of being confined to mere statements without any action on the ground.