KCR lying to farmers on procurement of agri produce: Telangana Rythu Sangham

HYDERABAD: Telangana Rythu Sangam leader Pasya Padma slammed Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for “lying” to farmers on the issue of procurement of agricultural produce.

She said that when the Centre had promised to procure wheat and other farm produce from the north, Rao announced that the state government could procure paddy and other crops, although he did not specify from which year he would do so.

Padma said the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had adversely hit farmers by revising its procurement norms and making it clear that it was not keen on maize, which even the government was not keen on procuring last year.

Padma said that FCI is not willing to procure paddy and other produce in Rabi on the pretext of shortage of storage capacity and bleak import prospects. She pointed out that government officials were mentioning that eight lakh metric tonnes can be procured this year but not later.

Kisan Congress state president Anvesh Reddy stated that farm laws were more of a bane for farmers, who are also in a confused state because of lack of assurance by the state government.

Recently Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao ruled out village-level procurement centres while at the same time, mentioning that Indira Kranti Pathams and other procurement centres would continue in villages. This contradiction is demoralising farmers, she said.

Meanwhile, the Congress asked the Chief Minister to clarify whether the 6,000 procurement centres in the state would be functional or not.
BJP Kisan Morcha state president K. Sridhar Reddy stated that the new agri laws have been kept in abeyance because of the agitation by farmers and Supreme Court directions.
Citing an example, he said Andhra Pradesh turmeric farmers came to Nizamabad with their product and benefited from the high price — Rs 10,800 — it fetched whereas their government was giving only Rs 6, 500 per quintal. He said that farmers can benefit once the new agri farm laws are implemented across the country.

He alleged that Opposition parties were provoking farmers unions to save their skin with temporary agitations at Delhi. He made it clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was ready to do anything for the welfare of farmers.