Nalgonda district CPI (M) secretary N. Narasimha Reddy contended on Tuesday that farmers in the district were losing Rs.120 crore, at the rate of Rs.100 per quintal of paddy, owing to denial of the minimum support price of Rs.1,030 to them. Farmers were getting only Rs.930-940 for a quintal.
Speaking to press persons after visiting the Nalgonda Agricultural Market Yard, Mr. Reddy claimed the loss of Rs.120 crore sustained by ryots would go into the pockets of traders/millers, who were only exploiting the hapless farming community by purchasing only small quantities of paddy. He accused the FCI and Civil Supplies department of not even coming to the rescue of farmers in distress.
The CPI(M) leader charged the commission agents in the Nalgonda Market Yard with collecting two per cent commission from each farmer and Rs.5 for each bag of paddy as handling charge. Besides, they were not lifting the purchased stocks daily. The delayed lifting of stocks was causing financial stress to ryots. As a result of these factors, farmers were now being forced to spend on the sale of paddy as much as they spent on its cultivation.
He alleged that Ministers D. Sridhar Babu, K. Venkat Reddy, during their recent visits to the market yard, Collector N. Mukteswara Rao and Joint Collector Neetu Prasad were only issuing statements with regard to MSP payment to farmers and not initiating any stringent action by the administration to ensure that it reaches them.
