Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal’s attempts to smear the TRS government on the paddy procurement issue on Thursday are certain to backfire on the BJP government at the Centre. Describing the Telangana administration as anti-farmer was possibly the biggest blunder the union Minister could have made, given that farmers from all over the country have been demanding that the TRS government implement its pro-farmers policies.
The sour event began with a Ministerial team led by Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy requesting that the Union Minister present Telangana’s procurement case, which included the Centre acquiring all paddy produced in the state on par with other states such as Punjab and Haryana. The meeting, which Goyal scheduled after making the delegation wait for 48 hours, did not go well.
The federal Minister sought political points by holding a rushed press conference following the meeting, during which he chastised the Telangana administration for attempting to blame the Centre for the grain procurement dispute. He said that the Centre was not discriminating between states when it came to paddy procurement and that it would solely buy raw rice from Telangana during the upcoming Rabi (Yasangi) season. He further said that Telangana, unlike all other states, neglected to react when asked how much raw rice it would supply.
He stated that the Centre was ready to purchase as much raw rice as the State could provide, adding, “We have no discrimination against Telangana.” “We are ready to procure raw rice from Telangana, as are all other States, and the paddy is being purchased through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in accordance with the agreement,” he said. He continued by saying that the Telangana government had “completely failed in paddy procurement and was spreading false propaganda against the Centre to cover up its failure.”
“Telangana farmers are being misled.” “The Chandrashekhar Rao government is anti-farmers and is turning the farmers’ issue into a political slugfest,” he said of Telangana’s government, which is the only one to implement novel and farmer-friendly initiatives such as Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, free 24-hour quality power supply to the farm sector, and completion of major irrigation projects such as the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme.
Following that, Niranjan Reddy launched a scathing attack on union ministers as well as the Central government. “The BJP leadership has no humane approach towards farmers and is looking at agriculture only from a business perspective,” he said, criticising the Centre’s approach and Piyush Goyal’s arrogant stance on the issue.
The Minister recalled that the State administration successfully persuaded farmers to cut paddy cultivation, which they did, reducing paddy cultivation from 56 lakh acres to 36 lakh acres. He did, however, point out that the BJP Telangana leaders were attempting to earn political mileage by inciting farmers to increase paddy planting, which was detrimental to national interests.
Niranjan Reddy stated that it was the obligation of the Centre to purchase paddy and that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) was paid for paddy rather than rice. “The Centre does not obtain ‘Atta’ in the case of wheat.” Similarly, they can buy paddy and have it milled to their specifications. “Why are they insisting on milling it and only supplying raw rice?” he questioned.
He attacked the union Minister, saying, “Unlike any other State, Telangana government is offering irrigation water, uninterrupted and free power aside from Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima among others to boost agriculture operations on a wide scale.” Are these the justifications for labelling us an anti-farmers’ government?” He stated that the State administration will develop an action plan in response to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s directives on the problem.
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