Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) on Tuesday announced that the state government has decided to purchase the entire Paddy crop produced by farmers in the coming Yasangi (Rabi) season.
This comes after discussions held on Tuesday in the Cabinet meeting on this burning issue that has led to a serious political battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre and the state. Both the TRS and the BJP have been at loggerheads shifting the blame on each other while farmers suffered from a lack of clarity.
He said that purchasing centres will be opened in the next two to three days in all villages across the state. “A four-member committee headed by Chief Secretary will study how to minimize the loss to the state exchequer due to this decision. Every single grain will be procured with a minimum loss,” he said.
He urged the farmers to not sell their crops for a reduced price. “We will buy your crop for the Minimum Support Price of Rs 1960 and the money will be deposited into your accounts. Just because this useless central government doesn’t help, doesn’t mean you will be wasted,” he said.
KCR while making this announcement, also attacked the Union Food distribution Minister Piyush Goyal and asked whether he has the mind to understand the issue. “Just because you (centre) don’t procure paddy from our farmers, doesn’t mean we will let them drown in Ganga,” he remarked.
The chief minister held a protest at Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday and gave the Centre 24 hours to deliver a conclusion on the issue. Over 1,000 leaders from the TRS have participated in the protest. The BJP said that the chief minister is politicizing the issue and is playing with the lives of farmers and held a counter-protest at the “Dharna Chowk” in Hyderabad.
KCR also announced other key cabinet decisions like the establishment of six private universities in Hyderabad, a second runway for the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), and the recruitment of 3500 teaching and nonteaching staff in state universities, and the cabinet approval for the repeal of GO 111.
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