Centre escaped from its responsibility on paddy purchase: jagadish

Suryapet: Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy on Monday said that the Centre should purchase every grain of the wheat and paddy crop produced by the farmers in the country as per food security act.

Participating in protest demonstrations held by the TRS members here against the Centre over paddy procurement issue, he said that the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has suggested the farmers not to take up cultivation of paddy in the state until there was some clarity on the Centre’s stand on paddy procurement. It was BJP leaders, who provoked the farmers to take up cultivation of the paddy for their political gains. Such BJP leaders were now not speaking about the paddy procurement, he alleged.

Reminding that some BJP leaders also made statements saying they would convince Narendra Modi government for purchase of raw rice from the state, he said that such statements have misguided the farmers at the cost of their interests. He held the BJP leaders responsible for cultivation of paddy by the farmers in large extent of area. The politically motivated statements of BJP leaders have spoiled the efforts of the state government to educate the farmers about the real situation arose in marketing of paddy crop, if the Centre did not purchase raw rice from the state, he added.

Stating that the Centre would only have the powers to control exports and imports of food grains, he said that the Centre would also had the responsibility to procure different crops from different states and supply them to the states based on the requirement. Narendra Modi government was trying to escape from its responsibility with denial of purchase of raw rice from the state, he added. The policies being pursued by the Centre have also shown impact on hunger index in the country, he added. Telangana state has played a key role in avoiding food scarcity by producing record level of paddy.

He said that the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao left no stone unturned to convince the Centre, but no use. With no other option, TRS had taken up agitation to mount pressure on the Centre. We should continue the agitation until withdrawal of the decision of the Centre on purchase of raw rice. He made it clear that the state government would ensure that no hardship was created to the farmers at any cost.

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