HYDERABAD: As soon as Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao completed his dharna in Delhi and returned to Hyderabad, the Centre was quick to convey its firm stance. “We will procure only raw rice. We are not procuring parboiled rice from any State as a policy,” Department of Food and Public Distribution Secretary Sudhanshu Panday told the Telangana government.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Monday, Panday said that there was a uniform procurement policy for the entire country which was farmer-friendly. The Secretary said that though the Ministry of Food and Public Distribution conducted two meetings after Rabi preparations commenced, the Telangana government had not informed the Centre about the status.
Procurement in Telangana in Kharif Market Season (KMS) 2015-16 was 15.79 lakh tonnes and its value was Rs 3,417 crore, he said. In 2020-21, the procurement increased to 94.54 lakh tonnes and its value was Rs 26,641 crore, Panday stated. Punjab too produces paddy which is not consumed within the State. So all the paddy produced in Punjab is given to the Central pool. Telangana, on the other hand, consumes around nine lakh tonnes of rice and the remaining would be given to the Central pool, the Secretary said.
“It was decided in the meeting held on August 17, 2021, that no parboiled rice will be accepted in Central pool for KMS 2021-22 from any State due to high stock level and procurement of parboiled rice by consuming states like Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal. However, a State can procure parboiled rice for its own consumption. As a special case in KMS 2020-21, Telangana was permitted to procure 44.75 LMT of parboiled rice. The Telangana government submitted its commitment in a letter on October 4, 2021 that no parboiled rice would be delivered by the State to FCI in future,” Panday said.