The Telangana Cabinet will sit on a day-long dharna on April 11 in Delhi protesting against the Union government’s alleged discriminatory paddy procurement policy, which the ruling party of the State, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), claims is impacting 61 lakh farmers.
The Centre has refused to procure paddy from Telangana this Rabi season, reiterating its stand that it would only purchase raw rice and not parboiled rice, which the majority of the State produces in this season. The TRS has been holding protests across the State on the issue since April 4.
Speaking to The Hindu, senior party leader and Member of the Legislative Council, K. Kavitha said the Centre should answer the Telangana farmer on why they were being singled out? She is in Delhi accompanying her father, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao. “After we started harnessing the river water in a better way, we have record-breaking production. And now the question is how exactly does the Central government plan to help the farmers of Telangana? They procure both the crops [Rabi and Kharif] from the Punjab farmers but the same policy does not apply to Telangana.” This change in the agricultural production patterns had come about in 60 years because of policy of her government, she said.
The TRS has two basic demands: a uniform procurement policy for the entire country without any discrimination, and the Centre should declare the quantities they would procure from each State at the beginning of the year.
Meetings with Goyal
The State government and the TRS MPs have had several rounds of meetings with Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal in the last many months to resolve the issue but the Centre has remained steadfast in its position. In protest, they had boycotted part of the winter session.
“The Centre has not been responsive at all. This is not a one-time issue. They should plan ahead and tell us ahead which season how much grain you want and how much you will procure from each State. These are not political decisions that can be made overnight. It’s a decision, that will impact millions of farmers of the nation,” Ms. Kavitha stated.
The onus was on the Centre to procure the produce at minimum support price (MSP). Only then, the markets will respond favourably. “If the government does not procure, the whole purpose of the MSP will be defeated,” she stressed.”
Policies should not be dictated by politics. “Fundamentally, this government came to power saying that years of wrongdoing will be corrected. Food security of this nation should be addressed. What have they done towards this goal? May be there are political motives in what they are doing to us but at the end of the day who is getting hurt?” she added.
