HYDERABAD: The Telangana Assembly on Monday witnessed heated exchanges between Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy and BRS deputy floor leader T Harish Rao after the latter called for scrutiny of the state’s rice export initiative.
Alleging a massive scam in export of rice to the Philippines, the BRS member demanded that a house committee be constituted to probe the issue.
During Question Hour, Harish Rao sought details on the export of rice to the Philippines and appointment of Prem Chand Garg as an advisor. He said that Garg was facing cases booked by central agencies, including CBI and ED.
Uttam, however, denied the allegation, stating: “There is no link between rice export and Prem Chand Garg. The Telangana government has entered into a historic agreement with the Philippines government. There is no scam in export of rice.”
The minister alleged that Harish Rao, at one point in time, had himself approached the Civil Supplies Commissioner recommending a person of his choice to be involved in the rice export process. “If a house committee sought by Harish Rao is to be constituted, it should be with the sole purpose of probing Harish Rao’s own deals during his tenure as a minister,” he said.
Highlighting the rice exports initiative as a major boost to Telangana’s agricultural ambitions, he said: “Telangana Rice Mission has achieved a landmark success by exporting 22,750 metric tonnes of rice to the Philippines under a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement, which is beyond the scope of any suspicion.”
He explained that the rice export fetched an impressive `3,600 per quintal and described it as the highest price ever recorded for this rice variety in any Indian export deal.
Harish, meanwhile, sought the government’s clarification as to why it did not call tenders for export of rice. “Why a private company was awarded the work on nomination basis,” the BRS member asked.