Medak farmers warn of boycotting polls over delay in paddy procurement

The farmers said they would stay away from the Lok Sabha elections if the government failed to procure the paddy by Sunday evening.

Medak: Farmers staged a rasta-roko on the Chegunta-Medak road protesting against officials delaying procurement of paddy at Ambajipet village in Chinna Shakarampet mandal on Sunday.

The farmers said they would stay away from the Lok Sabha elections if the government failed to procure the paddy by Sunday evening.

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Accusing the government machinery of favouring the middlemen by delaying procurement, the farmers alleged that many farmers in the village sold their paddy to middlemen at much less than the MSP. Accusing the government of forcing them to wait at procurement centres for days, the farmers said they would intensify their protest by staying away from elections scheduled on Monday.

As the IMD has predicted the rains in the State over the next few days, the worried farmers took to the roads. The traffic on the busy road came to a halt for more than an hour. Police then intervened and pacified the farmers, convincing them to withdraw their protest after assuring them to take their issue to the notice of the district administration.