HYDERABAD: With the Centre refusing to procure paddy and the State government advising paddy farmers to cultivate alternative crops, the farmers of Telangana are staring at an uncertain future. Political parties, meanwhile, are gleefully indulging in a blame game, holding the other responsible for the present crisis.
Asserting that the Centre never said it would not procure Rabi paddy, BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar challenged Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to show any communication from the Centre regarding the matter or resign from his post.
During his three-hour Rythu Deeksha held in Hyderabad on Thursday, he announced the launch of a state-wide movement to make farmers aware that the Chief Minister was hurting their interests by asking them to opt for alternative crops.
If the Chief Minister writes to the Centre on procurement of paddy, Sanjay Kumar said he would ensure the issuance of necessary approvals for the same. Accusing State Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy of spreading lies, he said that a complaint would be lodged with the Election Commission against the former for trying to influence the voters ahead of the Huzurabad byelection.
Niranjan hits back
Reacting sharply to Sanjay Kumar’s challenge, Niranjan Reddy released a letter written by the Under Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, which was addressed to the Commissioner of Civil Supplies on September 30. The letter clearly states that the FCI was not going to procure any more parboiled rice from Telangana in the future as a condition for accepting 20 lakh tonne paddy from the previous Yasangi season.
Speaking to the media, he challenged Sanjay Kumar as well as Union Minister G Kishan Reddy to get assurance from the Centre that it would procure Rabi rice or resign from their posts. Blaming the Centre for not having a proper agrarian plan for the country, the result of which was affecting the farmers in Telangana, he said the State government had requested the Centre to give an annual indent for paddy procurement so that the State government could plan accordingly, but they failed to do so.
Meanwhile, Congress too joined the bandwagon with Sangareddy MLA and TPCC working president T Jayaprakash Reddy stating that both TRS and BJP parties, instead of addressing the issue, were indulging in fisticuffs forgetting the thin ice on which the farmer was standing.
Paddy harvesters barred for 3 days
Nalgonda: The owners and middlemen handling paddy harvesters across Nalgonda and Suryapet districts were informed not to operate them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, due to the heavy flow of trucks loaded with paddy arriving at local rice mills in Miryalguda, causing heavy delay and inconvenience to rice millers and officials. In view of this, District Collector and SP of Nalgonda district, have issued strict orders on the operation of harvesters.
BJP MLA seeks action against collector
Siddipet: BJP MLA M Raghunandan Rao demanded legal action against District Collector P Venkatram Reddy for his remarks against dealers selling paddy seeds to farmers. Two days ago, the saffron leader had said that he planned to register a case against him. On Thursday, Raghunandan Rao lodged a complaint with the Chief Justice of India via email at 11.30 am, attaching videos of the remarks made by the Collector.