Former TPCC president and Nalgonda MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that legal guarantee on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is the only solution to farmers woes even though the three farm laws were repealed.
This is vindicated by the way Telangana farmers are being treated with paddy not procured by the governments, leaving them in lurch. They are not only losing money but several farmers have died at the threshing yards itself. Their lives could have been saved if the MSP is legally guaranteed, he said.
Congress has been demanding the BJP to give legal frame to the MSP for these reasons, he said.
Explaining the situation in Telangana, he said tenant farmers have been selling their paddy crop for ₹1,300 and ₹1,400 per quintal, whereas the MSP is ₹1,960. This means, they are forced to sell their crop at 30% below the MSP. If this is the situation regarding paddy, which is one of the favoured crops, imagine the plight of farmers growing other crops, he said.
Mr. Reddy said the protest of TRS MPs in the Parliament is a ridiculous drama. “Paddy farmers in Telangana are noticing the dramas being played by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in Hyderabad dharna and TRS MPs inside the Parliament. Why are KCR and his MPs talking of rabi paddy procurement now when they are not procuring kharif paddy which is in the market now?”
The MP further said the Government of India had agreed to purchase 40 lakh tonnes of rice (equivalent to 60 lakh tonnes of paddy) in August 2021. “Why were the procurement centres opened late? Why were gunny bags not procured in time? Why was the transport contract not finalised? Why have only 10 lakh tonnes been procured so far out of the target of 40 lakh tonnes?,” he asked.
