Hyderabad: Disputing claims by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) who accused the ruling Telangana Congress government of “lifting” Rs 1,000 worth of crore paddy in a “rice procurement scam”, state civil supplies minister Uttam Kumar Reddy termed the allegations as “baseless and fabricated”.
Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday, May 26 Uttam Kumar Reddy slammed KTR’s remarks saying 30 LMT (lakh metric tonnes) of paddy worth Rs 200 crore has been procured so far. “How could a Rs 1,000 crore scam occur in the purchase of grain worth just Rs 200 crore?” he asked.
KTR had accused CM Revanth Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy of being implicated in the civil supply department scam.
In his reply, Uttam Kumar Reddy challenged KTR asking if his party can buy superfine rice at Rs 42/kg following all the tender norms. He added that the state government is ready to buy rice in any quantity keeping in mind the best interest of the farmers.
Reminding KTR that the average cost of auctioning one quintal paddy was Rs 17,00 under the BRS government, Uttam said that the cost is now Rs 2,022 under the present government.Reminding KTR that the average cost of auctioning one quintal of paddy was Rs 17,00 under the previius BRS government, Uttam said that the cost is now Rs 2,022 under the present government.
“There are contradictions. At one place, they (BRS) ask why action was not initiated against rice millers and at the other, they object to taking action against rice millers who were defaulting on supply of custom milled rice (CMR). There is not even an iota of truth in the allegations made by KTR. While he alleged a scam in the procurement of superfine rice, I want to make it clear that not even a single grain of superfine variety of rice was procured,” Uttam stated.
