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Karimnagar: The Centre must ban imports of cotton from other countries and instruct the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to purchase cotton from farmers at the guaranteed price, demanded state secretary of the Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress Shasahi Bhushan Kache.
The KKMC leader on Tuesday submitted a representation to CCI general manager Arjun S. Dave here in Hyderabad.
Cotton at present sells between Rs 6,500 and Rs 6,600 per quintal which is far below the minimum support price of Rs 7,122 fixed by the Centre. At low market price, many farmers refrained from selling their stocks. That apart, huge quantities of cotton to the tune of 11 lakh million bales are stocked in CCI warehouses which is unsold. What is the need of importing cotton when the country already has such a large quantity of cotton stock, he questioned.
The central government is keen to benefit traders instead of thinking about the welfare of farmers who do a lot of hard work in fields, he said.
Importing cotton in such circumstances would not only collapse the cotton market in the country, but will give a huge blow to the cotton farmers who are already facing a lot of difficulties due to low price, he pointed out.
The Congress should ask the central government to stop importing cotton from other countries and immediately start purchasing cotton from farmers by ensuring MSP, he demanded.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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