Ruling TRS holds protests in T'gana, renews demand for paddy procurement by Centre

We have said that we procure rice from Telangana as we do in Punjab. Rice that we get from Punjab is as per the MoU and that grain can be sold and distributed across the country, he said, adding the Centre cannot take such variety of rice which is not consumed by all.

The ruling TRS in Telangana on Monday held protests across the State, demanding that the paddy it produced be procured by the Centre.

State Ministers and others held the protests.

Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy, who took part in a protest at Devarakadra, said the Centre discriminated against Telangana when it came to the procurement.

The TRS recently announced the protests against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre from today.

On April 1, Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal attacked the ruling TRS for allegedly misleading the farmers of the State on the procurement.

He said the Centre has always been buying raw rice from Telangana and Punjab.

Replying to a query raised by TRS leader K Keshav Rao in the Rajya Sabha, the Union Minister said the Telangana government has given in writing that it would not supply parboiled rice but raw rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

The FCI has entered into a memorandum of understanding with all States and asked them to procure parboiled rice as per local demand and the surplus grain be supplied raw to the Central pool, he had said.

Goyal had said the Telangana Chief Minister recently wrote to the Centre and sought paddy procurement in the State as was being procured from Punjab. ''We have said that we procure rice from Telangana as we do in Punjab. Rice that we get from Punjab is as per the MoU and that grain can be sold and distributed across the country,'' he said, adding the Centre cannot take such variety of rice which is not consumed by all.