KCR demands Centre to procure entire paddy crop on par with Punjab
Hyderabad: Striking a touch posture on paddy procurement, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday demanded that Centre procure the entire Yasangi paddy crop produced in Telangana State just as it was doing in the case of Punjab and Haryana. “If the BJP government at the Centre fails to heed our demand, we will launch a movement that will be of the same magnitude as that of the Statehood agitation,” Chandrashekhar Rao declared, taking the fight to New Delhi.
The Chief Minister was addressing mediapersons after a meeting of the TRS Legislative Party, Parliamentary Party and the State executive committee at Telangana Bhavan, the party headquarters here, passed a unanimous resolution in this regard. “Just as the BJP government speaks of One Nation, One Ration Card and One Nation, One Tax, there should also be a One Nation, One Procurement policy. Our demand is for the union government to have a uniform national procurement policy that will be fair on all farmers across the country without an bias to any particular State,” he said, and pointed out that the Centre was procuring 100 per cent of the crops harvested in Punjab and Haryana irrespective of quantity and quality.
Stating that a delegation of Ministers and MPs will meet with union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal in Delhi on Tuesday to urge the Centre to procure the entire paddy crop, the Chief Minister said: “We are hopeful that the Centre will oblige our request, failing which we will not hesitate to launch an agitation. We will prevail upon the Centre to procure the entire paddy harvest from Telangana,” the Chief Minister said.
The party leaders have been asked to facilitate passing of resolutions by all urban and rural local bodies in the State, demanding that the Centre procure the entire paddy crop. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come up with a uniform procurement policy and purchase paddy from Telangana on par with Punjab. “I appeal to the Prime Minister with folded hands to procure the entire crop from Telangana and not to provoke us. At the same time, we are ready to support the Centre in introducing reforms but we will not step back from fighting for the rights of our farmers,” he said.
Chandrashekhar Rao urged the Centre to fulfill its Constitutional obligation of food security for the nationa as provided under the Food Security Act by procuring the entire paddy crop at MSP. “The MSP is paid for paddy and not rice. The Centre may procure paddy and then get it milled as per its requirement of raw rice or parboiled rice. The State government is ready to facilitate the process but the Centre’s requirements are not our problem,” he said, adding that it was the sole responsibility of the Centre to ensure sufficient buffer stocks to face unforeseen eventualities like the Covid pandemic.
The TRS President said he had already held discussions with farmers’ struggle leaders like Rakesh Tikait who expressed their willingness to join the fight. “If the need arises, TRS leaders will stage protests in Delhi,” he said, and emphasised the need for a Constitutional provision to safeguard the well-being of farmers through MSP, paddy purchases and others. “The Centre must prove its integrity and commitment for farmers’ welfare,” he said.
The Chief Minister pointed out that Telangana completed most of its irrigation projects and was supplying water free of cost, besides providing necessary support to farmers, without any help from the Centre. Due to the State government’s proactive measures, paddy cultivation area was brought down from 56 lakh acres last Yasangi season to 35 lakh acres this year, he pointed out.
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