SIDDIPET: BRS Deputy Floor leader and former minister T Harish Rao has threatened to lay siege to the Collectorate if the government fails to address the problem of paddy procurement within 48 hours by sending lorries and bags. Threatening that he would personally lead an agitation, he said that lakhs of farmers are suffering due to the alleged negligence of the government.
Harish Rao visited the paddy procurement centre in Ensanpally on Monday and interacted with farmers.
“The government has totally neglected the farming community. There were never such serious problems even during the rule of former chief ministers late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, late Rosaiah and Kiran Kumar Reddy in the combined Andhra Pradesh.
Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy is stating that the government will purchase only 90 lakh metric tonnes of paddy while there is 1.4 crore MTs of produce. Should the farmers sell the produce to middlemen?” asked Harish Rao.
He wondered why Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and others in his government failed to bring pressure on the Centre to purchase paddy. He also pointed to complaints regarding reduction of weight in the name of wastage, resulting in farmers losing around 150 kilograms of paddy for each acre.