The current problem of paddy procurement in Telangana state has taken a political turn, with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) deciding to hold dharnas across the state on Friday, while the BJP called for protests at all district headquarters on Thursday, demanding that the State procure Kharif harvest paddy from farmers without postponement.
The TRS has instructed its cadre to obtain the necessary permissions from the authorities in order to protest the Centre’s refusal to purchase paddy from Telangana on November 12.
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Double game claim
After being pushed to the limit by the Opposition parties over the purchasing of rabi paddy, TRS Founder-President and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has decided to ‘expose the Bharatiya Janata Party,’ which he claims is playing a double game.
‘While the BJP government in centre declares that it will not purchase parboiled rice from Telangana state farmers, its state unit encourages farmers to grow paddy. We will expose them and hold protest dharnas across the state,’ said the Chief Minister Mr. Rao.
Farmers in the state are unsure whether to plant paddy or not. Due to the refusal of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to purchase rabi parboiled paddy, the State instructed farmers to grow paddy only if they had contract agreements with millers or seed manufacturers.
Affiliated association on road
In the meantime, large numbers of Bharatiya Kisan Morcha activists, the BJP’s farmers’ wing, staged dharnas at all district headquarters across the state, criticizing the state for delaying Kharif purchasing.
They claimed that, despite the Union Government’s agreement to purchase 60 lakh tonnes of Kharif rice, the State is purposefully delaying the purchasing process.
Telangana Rythu Sangham, a CPM-affiliated farmers’ association, had already staged a protest at the villages and Mandals level, pleading with the State Government to come up with a plan that offered farmers alternative solutions.
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They claimed that the government implemented a token system for paddy harvesting in some districts this time, which is significantly delaying the procurement activities. The association’s Secretary T Sagar said that ‘the procurement process is moving very slowly.’
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