Telangana govt begins arrangements for paddy procurement

The Telangana government on Wednesday began the exercise of procuring paddy from farmers following Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's announcement that the government would buy the grains.

State Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar held a meeting with officials regarding the procurement.

An official release quoting him said 65 lakh metric tonnes of paddy are estimated to be available for procurement in the current season.

The government would set up check posts to prevent paddy being brought from other states to the procurement centres in Telangana, he said.

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, who held a teleconference with officials, instructed the Collectors to set up a special control room to monitor the progress of paddy procurement in the district on a daily basis.

A special control room is also being set up at the state level, an official release said.

Putting an end to the row over paddy procurement, the Chief Minister on Tuesday night announced that the state government would set up procurement centres to purchase paddy at minimum support price (MSP).

The ruling TRS and opposition BJP were engaged in a war of words over the issue.

The TRS earlier held protests, including in Delhi, demanding that the Centre procure paddy produced in Telangana rabi season as ensuring food security is its responsibility, while the Centre said it would buy raw rice.

The BJP had said the state government should procure paddy and supply rice to the Centre. It had demanded that procurement centres be opened without delay.

Meanwhile, the Congress in Telangana on Wednesday met Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on the paddy procurement issue.

Saying that farmers had sold their produce in distress to middlemen and rice millers in view of the delay created by the TRS government, Congress urged that the state government be directed to repay those losses to affected farmers.