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The Telangana Government has decided to procure the paddy produced during the current Rabi season, ending weeks of speculation and uncertainty.
The decision comes on the heels of the Union Government refusing to procure parboiled rice, saying that the State had “agreed in writing” to supply white rice instead of parboiled rice earlier. The K Chandrashekar Rao government’s move also follows the commencement of harvest by farmers. On Tuesday, the Telangana Cabinet discussed the issue and decided to procure the paddy.
Making this announcement after the Cabinet meeting here on Tuesday, the Telangana Chief Minister said a four-member committee headed by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar has been appointed to assess the financial burden for the State. Secretaries of Agriculture, Irrigation and Finance Departments are the other members of the committee.
The State has grown paddy on 36 lakh acres and pegged the output at 84 lakh tonnes (56 lakh tonnes of rice). “Heeding to our appeals, farmers have reduced the paddy area from 55 lakh acres last year to 36 lakh acres this year,” the Chief Minister said
Financial burden
The State will shoulder an additional burden of about ₹2,000-2,500 crore. In the 2021 rabi season, the State spent about ₹17,000 crore on procuring paddy.
Blaming the Union Government for not coming to the rescue of the farmers, the Chief Minister said the rabi paddy yielded less rice as the percentage of broken rice was higher due to very high temperatures.
“What they have to bear is the cost of broken rice. While kharif paddy yields about 67 kg of rice, rabi rice yields about 35 kg. Since the Union Government is refusing to shoulder this burden, we have decided to bear the additional costs,” he said.
The Centre told Telangana that procuring parboiled rice would be difficult as there were only two States consuming the rice variety and the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had stocks for over two years. Food Secretary Sundanshu Pandey, addressing the press on Monday, wondered how the percentage of broken rice was higher in Telangana, while Odisha and Andhra Pradesh with same agro-climate had no such complaints.
The State Government will open procurement centres in all the villages in order to complete the process quickly.
The issue has taken a political turn with the State unit of BJP and Congress party launching campaigns, demanding the KCR Government to buy the paddy.
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