By Our Special Correspondent
Congress MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the TRS government in Telangana and the BJP government at the center have jointly destroyed the rice farmers in Telangana. Uttam Kumar Reddy accused on Wednesday.
Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said in a media release that the Center has cut down heavily in response to a question asked by Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in the Lok Sabha today Collection of rice from Telangana state.
According to the procurement statistics presented by the Union Minister in the Lok Sabha, while 61.87 lakh metric tons of paddy was procured in Rabi 2020-21, the central government procured only 28.96 MLTs of paddy in Rabi 2021-22.
By reducing procurement by more than 50%, the BJP government has attempted to undermine the livelihood of lakhs of padi farmers in Telangana. He further accused the TRS government of playing a negative role in destroying the paddy farmers by being a mute spectator.
In response to Reddy's question whether rice procurement has stopped for the 2022 Rabi season from Telangana, the Union Minister admitted that the rice receipt operations were stopped for a short period from July 6 to 19, 2022 due to non-distribution. No action was taken against rice and defaulting millers under PMKAY Phase-VI.
“The BJP government is trying to mislead people by saying that it has not stopped but suspended the acquisitions. Statistics make it clear that purchases have been reduced by more than half, affecting lakhs of padi farmers.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has strongly condemned the lack of action against the rice millers. CM KCR should explain why action was not taken against the rice millers who bought grain and did not supply rice under CM Custom Milling.
Why is KCR not taking action even today against the default of rice millers who have acquired government grain worth hundreds of crores of rupees? Is it deliberate to give an excuse to the BJP government to stop procurement of paddy from Telangana? Should CM KCR explain that ration card holders were not supplied under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana as mentioned in the reply given by the Center in the Lok Sabha today? He asked.
The Congress MP said that rice millers have stored the collected grain to misappropriate government funds. “The Union Minister also stated that the state government is committed to take action against defaulting millers. However, the steps taken by the state government are not clear.
That is why they demanded that the BJP and TRS governments explain the crime committed by some rice millers and take action against them.
Uttam said that BJP and TRS governments are responsible for the plight of lakhs of rice donors. He said that many farmers have committed suicide due to the fact that they have to sell to the millers at a price lower than the minimum support price. Therefore, they demanded a high-level inquiry into the default of Raise millers and their relationship with the ruling TRS and BJP governments.
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