HYDERABAD: Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday announced that the government will help the distressed farmers who were adversely affected due to untimely rains. He also said that they will procure the rain-affected paddy at minimum support price (MSP) relaxing the existing specifications.
In an informal chat with reporters, the minister said the farming community was currently reeling under an emergency-like situation due to heavy rains. He said the government will bear the losses caused due to the rains and start the process of enumerating the crop loss soon.
Issuing a stern warning to the rice millers, Uttam said there should not be any depreciation from the farmers’ produce. “If there are any complaints against the rice millers regarding depreciation, we will book cases,” he said, adding that the amount of paddy procured is much higher than the previous year.
‘In talks with Karnataka’
Additionally, Uttam said the state government has persuaded the Karnataka government to let it draw 2.25 tmcft of water for drinking purposes from the Krishna river.
Responding to a question on the recent interim report on the Medigadda barrage, the irrigation minister said the government will decide after the NDSA submits the final report. He said the NDSA found that repairs to Medigadda should have been carried out in 2019 by releasing water from the barrage. He also underscored the finding of NDSA that there cannot be any guarantee of further damage to the Kaleshwaram project.
Reacting to a question on the inflation of rice prices, Uttam said that the government will decide on this issue after the Lok Sabha elections.