Hyderabad: The Telangana BJP has stepped up its opposition against the State government and the Congress party. Union Ministers and party leaders are visiting paddy procurement centres across the state to highlight the issues faced by farmers. On Monday, Dr. K Laxman, the National President of BJP OBC Morcha, visited paddy procurement centres in Choutuppal mandal of Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district.
Dr. Laxman pointed out the difficulties farmers are facing. He mentioned a farmer, Pulla Reddy, who brought 1,100 sacks of paddy to the Choutuppal market yard 30 days ago, but the paddy still hasn’t been purchased. Dr. Laxman said this is a common issue for many farmers in the state.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, also visited the paddy procurement centre at Kothagutta in Shankarapatnam. He criticized the Congress government for delaying paddy purchases, which he said was an effort to avoid paying bonuses to farmers. According to him, the state had promised to open 7,572 procurement centres by October 1st, but only 6,017 have been set up.
Sanjay Kumar also revealed that the state had planned to procure 8 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in October and 33 lakh metric tonnes in November. However, as of November 10th, only 95,140 metric tonnes had been procured. Out of the Rs 220 crore that should have been paid to farmers, only Rs 6.44 crore has been disbursed so far.
He further explained that 20 lakh metric tonnes of paddy were sold below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,300 per quintal, resulting in a loss of Rs 1,000 crore. He blamed the state government for the losses, saying they were avoiding procurement because they owed Rs 2,500 crore in bonuses promised to farmers.
Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender, who inspected the procurement centres in Janagama, highlighted another issue. He said rice millers are facing a shortage of space, which is preventing them from lifting the paddy. Rajender urged the state government to ensure that paddy is procured within two to three days of its arrival at the centres and that farmers are paid promptly.
