Whether the Centre will procure the rabi paddy in Telangana has taken a political turn, with the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao backing the farmers. Giving an ultimatum to the Union Government, he has asked the Centre to give a categorical ‘yes or no’ to procurement of the grain.

Taking the fight to the streets, he led a ‘Maha Dharna’ at the ‘Dharna Chowk’ at the Indira Park on Thursday and demanded that the Centre should give an answer in three days. “We will intensify the struggle to tell the country about the government’s indifferent attitude with regard to the issue,” he said.

Alleging that the Centre is inefficient, he said any delay in clarifying rabi procurement could cause serious harm to the interests of farmers.

Accompanied by his Cabinet colleagues, party MPs and MLAs, the Chief Minister held a three-hour dharna to bring home the message that it is the responsibility of the Union Government, and not the State Government, to take call on whether to go for paddy in rabi or not.

Addressing the dharna, Telangana Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy criticised the Central Government for its lopsided procurement policies. He said that the Food Corporation of India is yet to complete last year’s rabi procurement target. “It is yet to procure about 5 lakh tonnes,” he said.

The TRS President’s decision to hold protests comes after the Union Government refused to procure parboiled rice from the State, citing huge pile up of buffer stocks.

TRS team meets Governor

After the dharna, a delegation of MPs and MLAs led by the TRS Working President and Telangana IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao met Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and submitted a memorandum, highlighting the challenges being faced by the farmers in the State.

Congress holds protests

Meanwhile, the Congress Party too held a protest rally, demanding the State government speed up procurement of kharif paddy. Led by Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President Revanth Reddy, Congress activists organised a rally from the Public Gardens to the Agriculture Commissioner’s Office.

comment COMMENT NOW