Centre must buy state paddy: KCR
He asked why the state government should do milling and supply raw rice or boiled rice to the Centre
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Monday demanded that the Centre procure 100 per cent paddy for minimum support price (MSP) and not rice from Telangana in rabi season as was being done in Punjab.
He asked why the state government should do milling and supply raw rice or boiled rice to the Centre. However, the Chief Minister dropped his earlier Delhi visit plan for now to take up this demand with the Centre. He said a delegation of ministers and MPs would leave for Delhi on Tuesday to meet union ministers concerned to voice their demand and based on the response they get, he would take a call on when to visit Delhi to meet the Prime Minister and union ministers.
Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan here, Rao said, "The Centre prescribes MSP for paddy and not for rice. It's the duty of the Centre to procure paddy from states for MSP and it is the Centre's wish what to do with that paddy. The Centre has to decide whether to produce raw rice or boiled rice out of paddy. In what way states are bothered or concerned about this? The Centre is procuring 100 per cent paddy from Punjab and Haryana in two seasons of kharif and rabi. We demand the Centre to procure paddy in the same manner from Telangana in two seasons."
Rao warned the Centre of launching an intense agitation like Telangana movement if it failed to procure paddy in rabi from Telangana for MSP adding that TRSLP meeting passed a unanimous resolution in this regard.
"During rabi last year, paddy was sown in 55 lakh acres in Telangana. This time, it fell down to 35 lakh acres due to the government discouraging paddy cultivation and encouraging farmers to opt for alternate crops after the Centre refused to procure boiled rice from Telangana. Of this, farmers sown paddy in three lakh acres for the purpose of seeds and in two lakh acres to meet their food needs. The Centre has to procure balance from 30 lakh acres," Rao explained.
The Chief Minister also demanded that the Centre announce a national uniform procurement policy. "There can't be different policies for Punjab or Gujarat. All states should be treated equally." he said.
The Chief Minister asked party leaders and cadres to hold agitation programmes across the state on March 24 and 25, demanding 100 per cent paddy procurement by the Centre.
Rao also demanded that the Centre extend Constitutional protection and safety to farmers in terms of MSP for all the foodgrains and not just paddy. He said he would launch a nation-wide agitation to press these demands by involving farmers.
"I recently met Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait and other farmer leaders in Delhi and discussed all these issues. We discussed how to step up pressure on the Centre to achieve these demands," Rao added.