HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice A. Rajasheker Reddy on Monday issued notices to the state government, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the secretary, union ministry of consumer affairs, directing them to respond to the notices by December 6. In its notices, the court asked them to explain their stand on a PIL that highlighted the plight of paddy farmers in Telangana.
The petitioner Sirkar, a 5th year law student at the Osmania University, brought to the notice of the court that despite the secretary, union ministry for consumer affairs food and public distribution department agreeing to make paddy procurement and giving an estimation that it would procure 40 lakh metric tons of rice for the period between October 2021 to January 2022 during a virtual meeting on August 21, the paddy is yet to be purchased by the Centre.
Abhinav Krishna Uppaluri, counsel for the petitioner, requested the court to pass necessary directions stating any further delay would lead to more damage to the paddy. He submitted that due to the non-procurement, paddy was sprouting. He explained to the court with newspaper clippings that even 10 per cent of paddy has not been procured in the state despite the promise made by the Union government.
However, the bench said the court was aware of the situation the farmers were undergoing and the damage done to the crops due to nature’s wrath. The case has been adjourned to December 6, before which the FCI, the Telangana government and the union ministry have to reply to the notices.
