Ex-Minister Dayakar Rao joins farmers protest over delay in maize procurement in Warangal

Maize farmers in Warangal staged a protest alleging delays in procurement due to inadequate centres. Former Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao blamed the government for negligence, citing lack of facilities, shortage of gunny bags and delays in starting procurement

Warangal: The woes of maize farmers seem to be unending as the Congress government has failed to open adequate procurement centres in the district, forcing the farmers to wait for weeks to sell their produce.

A group of farmers led by former Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao staged a flash protest at Rayaparthy on National Highway 563 in the district on Saturday. The farmers shouted slogans against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy over the government’s failure to procure maize.

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He earlier visited a maize procurement centre set up at the local Telangana Kreeda Pranganam two days ago and interacted with farmers. Speaking to the media, he alleged that despite several requests, the government failed to set up procurement centres.

He said that even where centres were set up, procurement has not yet started due to the negligence of marketing and agriculture officials. As a result, the farmers were forced to spend day and night at the centres guarding their produce, Dayakar Rao alleged.

He further stated that there was a shortage of gunny bags, while transport contractors and warehouses were not finalised. Even though the time to procure paddy has arrived, maize farmers continue to face difficulties.

During the BRS regime, maize and paddy were procured at the doorsteps of farmers by setting up purchase centres in every village, besides providing Rythu Bandhu in every crop season.

The State government, which failed to provide urea to farmers during the crop season, has also failed to procure maize, much to the disappointment of the farming community across the State, Dayakar Rao noted.