Centre clarifies it won’t procure boiled rice from Telangana

Hyderabad: The Union government has made it clear to the delegation from Telangana that it would not procure Rabi boiled rice from the state.

Union food and public distribution minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday met with the delegation of Telangana ministers that comprised of KT Rama Rao, Gangula Kamalakar, and Singireddy Niranjan Reddy along with officials from the state and has clearly informed them about the decision regarding boiled rice.

“With this decision, boiled rice in the state is going to be a relic of the past,” the Telangana government said.

The Centre, however, informed the Telangana government that a conclusive target on the procurement of the Kharif rice will be announced on November 26 after meeting with agriculture and public distribution system (PDS) officials once again.

KTR informed the union minister that once they get some clarity in terms of the procurement target, they will advise farmers to not produce paddy and suggest alternative crops. The state government urged the farmers to wait for clarity from the centre regarding this issue.

Chief minister K Chandra Sekhar Rao along with a high-level delegation comprising of three ministers, ten members of Parliament, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, and a group of other top officials is in Delhi to discuss the paddy procurement issue with the Centre since Sunday evening. He had asked for the Prime minister’s appointment to brief him on the issue.