Launching a scathing attack against Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for deceiving the farmers with false propaganda, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president and Nalgonda MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Telangana region produced more food grains in the integrated Andhra Pradesh State.
The Telangana farmers had produced 1.05 crore metric tonnes of food grains during the year 2013-14, he said and added that the integrated Karimnagar district topped in paddy production in the integrated AP with the projects constructed by the Congress government.
“As an Opposition party, we will examine all options and expose the government by approaching the Governor and the courts for solving the farmers’ problems. However, the courts are closed now, but we fill definitely examine if there is an opportunity to approach the court on farmers issues,” he stated. He also appealed to the farmers not to accept the extra weight during the procurement.
Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy along with MLC T. Jeevan Reddy, TPCC working president Ponnam Prabhakar, AICC secretary Sampath Kumar and others visited various paddy procurement centres in Husnabad, Huzurabad and Manakondur assembly segments in the integrated Karimnagar district on Friday and interacted with the farmers about the procurement of the paddy and higher weighment, among others.
Talking to newsmen in Karimnagar, the TPCC president alleged that the TRS government had neglected the farmers and was resorting to systematic corruption by weighing at least 2 kilograms extra for every 40 kgs of the bag to benefit the millers at the procurement centres. He also charged that the government had not made any payments for the farmers who sold their redgram, maize and paddy so far.
Ridiculing the government claims on the procurement, he said that the Civil Supplies Department had stated that they had procured only 25 lakh metric a tonne of paddy and still more than 50 % of paddy was lying in the fields. He said that the government was purposefully delaying the procurement to force the farmers to resort to distress sale by extra weighting to benefit millers.
Finding fault with the CM for claiming that the Telangana State alone was procuring the farmers produce, he reminded that the Congress-led UPA government had set up the IKP centres for the procurement of the farmers produce. Ironically, the TRS government had not provided the commission of ₹ 32 per quintal of paddy procured by the women IKP centres, he stated. He also claimed all the Congress-ruled states had waived the crop loans at one-time settlement, unlike the TRS government.
