BRS MLA Tells Govt To Buy All Paddy Without Riders
Jagadish Reddy said the Congress government was being insensitive to the problems faced by farmers across the state
Nalgonda: Former minister and BRS MLA Guntakandla Jagadish Reddy on Saturday urged the state government to purchase all paddy from farmers through procurement centres without imposing any conditions.
He visited the paddy procurement centre operated by the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society (PACS) at Arjalabavi on the outskirts of Nalgonda town and interacted with farmers. He also inspected the discoloured and germinated paddy damaged by Cyclone Montha.
Speaking on the occasion, Jagadish Reddy said the Congress government was being insensitive to the problems faced by farmers across the state. He alleged that it failed to respond properly when farmers suffered heavy crop losses due to recent rains. He further accused ministers from Nalgonda district of spending time on foreign and out-of-state tours while farmers in their constituencies struggled.
He alleged that some ministers were protecting the interests of rice millers rather than farmers by accepting commissions from them. The millers, he said, were exploiting farmers by offering prices below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their produce.
Jagadish Reddy recalled that the previous BRS government had purchased all paddy and cotton from farmers during the rains, setting aside all conditions. He demanded that the Congress government follow the same approach and procure rain-soaked paddy without imposing restrictions related to discoloration or moisture content.
He pointed out that thousands of acres of standing crops were damaged by the cyclone and demanded ex gratia compensation for affected farmers. He also urged farmers to question ruling party MLAs when they visit their villages about the government’s inaction on crop losses.
