Members of various farmers’ organisations staged a protest in front of the agriculture market yard here on Monday expressing resentment over the alleged delay in commencement of procurement of cotton by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) at the market yard.
Members of the Telangana Rythu Sangham, the AIKMS, and the ‘Kaulu Rythula’ (tenant farmers) Sangham, among other organisations, staged a demonstration at the entrance of the market yard demanding urgent steps to make the recently inaugurated CCI procurement centre at the market yard operational forthwith.
CPI (M) State secretariat member Pothineni Sudarshan Rao, district secretary Ponnam Venkateshwara Rao, CPI (ML-ND) district secretary Gokinapalli Venkateswara Rao, Telangana Rythu Sangham State assistant secretary Nunna Nageswara Rao and others led the demonstration. The demonstrators shouted slogans demanding increase of the minimum support price (MSP) for cotton from the existing ₹4320 per quintal to ₹7000 per quintal.
They rued that the cotton growers were being exposed to “exploitation” by the errant private traders due to the alleged delay in cotton procurement by the CCI. Those who led the protest demanded that the CCI relax the norms pertaining to moisture content in cotton and buy the entire cotton produce from farmers at a better MSP.
The demonstrators called off the dharna after the officials concerned assured them that their demands will be forwarded to the higher-ups.
