HYDERABAD: In what has turned out to be a wild goose chase, the delegation of TRS ministers and MPs, who camped in Delhi for six days, returned home empty-handed, unable to extract any written commitment from the Centre on procuring the entire stock of Kharif rice produced in Telangana. Though Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal assured in Rajya Sabha that the entire stock of Kharif rice would be procured by the Centre, the TRS team stayed put in Delhi demanding a written assurance to this effect.
Niranjan tells Centre to be prepared to face backlash
The TRS delegation left for Delhi on December 18 and met Piyush Goyal, who wanted two days to give them clarity on the Kharif rice procurement target. However, with no written assurance coming their way, the delegation of TRS left Delhi on Friday.
Speaking to the media before leaving the national capital, Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy warned that “if the Centre fails to procure the entire stock of Kharif rice produced in the state, we will dump the excess stock in front of India Gate in Delhi.”
“The state government will procure entire Kharif paddy and pay the farmers. If the Centre does not procure the milled rice, it should be prepared to face a backlash from farmers,” Prashanth Reddy said.
Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said that the Centre should do away with its condescending and supercilious behaviour while dealing with states as though they are dependent on it for survival.
“This not good for democracy. Everyone knows what happened to the previous Central government for neglecting the aspirations of states,” he pointed out and added: “There was no cooperative federalism and the recommendations of Niti Aayog were not being implemented,” he said.