KTR demands White Paper on crop-wise procurement this Rabi season

Hyderabad

KT Rama Rao, working president of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), requested the State Government to issue a White Paper on procurement of all Rabi crops so far this year; He stated that even 35% of the total paddy produced has not been procured so far despite claims that the Prime Minister has purchased 80% and the Civil Supplies Minister has purchased 50%.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Rama Rao said, “We expected the government to review the paddy supply situation and deaths of farmers at procurement centers due to delays.” He revealed that more than 10 farmers have so far died in crop piles due to hot weather conditions, heart attacks and boredom.

Giving the details, he stated that Mr. Naseeruddin piled up on heap of paddy at a purchasing center at Nakrekal in Nalgonda district, Congress activist Ponnala Tirumalesh, who was waiting to sell 200 bags of paddy at a purchasing center, staged a half-naked protest and farmers were protesting at Doultabad mandal in Kodangal constituency.

Four farmers died in Mancherial district, one Venkateshwarlu died in Nekkonda in Warangal district and Shravan Kumar allegedly ended his life by consuming pesticide in Kolcharam in Medak district.

The BRS leader pointed out that the shortage of bags has forced farmers to buy bags on their own, forking out ₹25 to ₹35 per bag and paying waiting charges of ₹2,000 to ₹3,000 per day for tractors and trucks due to delays in unloading paddy at procurement centers before sale. He accused the government of deliberately delaying the purchases so that farmers could resort to concessional sale to traders at a much lower price than the support price.

He also stated that 6 to 8 kg of paddy was cut from every 100 kg in the name of straw and other wastages. Farmers were also provided with rental tarpaulins at purchasing centers to protect/cover paddy from unseasonal rain.

He demanded that the government provide discolored and sprouted paddy without any restrictions as the grain was damaged only due to delays in supply. He stated that both the Prime Minister and the Civil Supplies Minister misled the farmers regarding the procurement and demanded ex-gratia payment of ₹ 25 lakh each to all the farmers who died due to delays in procurement.