Hyderabad: The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal’s recent comments on Telangana farmers has sparked anger in the state.
Following a meeting with the Telangana government delegation led by agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy along with other ministers in Delhi, Goyal reportedly told them, “You have to make it a habit for the people of your state to eat broken rice, but we will not be buying boiled rice.”
The delegation had urged the Centre to procure the entire paddy from Telangana as the Centre does it from Punjab.
Piyush Goyal’s comments evoked a sharp response from the TRS party, which said that the Union minister’s remarks were “filled with arrogance.”
Telangana’s finance minister T. Harish Rao also took a strong exception to remarks made by Goyal about the delegation.
He reminded the Union Minister that the delegation comprising six ministers and MPs had gone to the national capital on behalf of 70 lakh farmers and 4 crore people of the state.
He said the language used by Goyal was unbecoming of a central minister. “What right do you have to humiliate our ministers and the state,” Harish Rao asked.
Many organizations protested and demanded an unconditional apology from the Union Minister. Slamming Goyal for his insensitive remarks, Telangana Rythu Sangham state secretary T Sagar said it was equal to humiliating the people of Telangana. “The Union minister should withdraw his comments immediately. When it can procure the entire paddy from Punjab, why can’t it do the same in the case of Telangana? The Union minister is only trying to wash his hands off the procurement issue,” Sagar said.
Calling it a dishonour to the entire farming community in the state, All India Turmeric Farmers Association national vice president Narsimham Naidu said, “Goyal’s comments reflect the true colours of the BJP government at the Centre. His comments have hurt the self-respect of the people of Telangana and speak volumes of the BJP government’s arrogance.”
Centre of Indian Trade Unions City Secretary M Venkatesh questioned, “Asking the people of Telangana to consume broken rice does not solve the paddy procurement issue. How can a Central minister ask people to consume broken rice?”
Nayee Brahmana Association president R Balakrishna said the Centre cannot digest the rapid development in Telangana and hence politicising the whole issue. “It is not wise on his part to ask Telangana people to consume broken rice,” he said, adding what role did the BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar had in play. “What does the BJP state president Bandi Sanjay have to say about the union minister’s comments?” Balakrishna asked.
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