Seeking to step up protest against the Centre over the alleged discrimination in paddy procurement, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders on Sunday inspected the venue at Telangana Bhavan in the national capital while calling for uniform procurement policy in the country.
The TRS leaders will be holding a protest 'dharna' on Monday to demand procurement of paddy in Telangana.
The ruling party in Telangana claims that the Centre isn't procuring paddy from the Telangana farmers.
Recently, the TRS workers had blocked four National Highways in Telangana to press their demand for a "uniform" procurement policy in the country. The party decided to protest in Delhi in their bid to raise the issue at the national level.
Addressing the media, TRS MLC K Kavitha, who is the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, said that the food security of the country will be endangered if there is no 'uniform procurement' policy by the Centre.
"The Central government should ensure the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the farmers and must uniformly procure from states. The government will have to ensure uniform procurement of paddy from farmers of each state. If that does not happen, the food security of the country will be endangered," she said.
Detailing the work done by Telangana for the farming sector, the MLC said that the government made Telangana a "green state" while the Centre is "putting an impediment" by adhering to a non-uniform procurement policy.
"All our leaders, including MPs, MLAs and district-level leaders, will be taking part in protest tomorrow here. Foodgrains produced in the state have doubled, but the Centre is not purchasing them," Kavitha said.
The TRS leader further said that the party will protest tomorrow to make the farmers 'Aatma Nirbhar'.
"No government has flourished after ruining farmers. The Centre has already seen the impact of the farmers' protests against the three farm laws, which had to be withdrawn. Do not intimidate the farmers once again. Telangana farmers are on the roads of Delhi and the Centre should pay heed to them. Our MPs have been opposing the government in the Parliament for the last 15 days," she said.
The TRS MP Suresh Reddy said that the leaders have come to the protest site to ensure proper arrangements for the "maha dharna" tomorrow.
"The reason for the protest is the lack of a uniform procurement policy in the country. These policies are biased and in a way affect the farmers of Telangana," he said.
The TRS MP alleged that the Centre is "failing to maintain federalism".
"Our CM has been supporting the Central government on issues concerning the national interests. But, unfortunately, there is no reciprocation in the true spirit of federalism. Tomorrow the entire state administration would be coming to Delhi. We have seen farmers coming to Delhi for other reasons but for the first time they are coming for their paddy," Reddy said.
On March 24, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal assured farmers of Telangana that there is absolutely no discrimination among the farmers from different states and added that some politicians in Telangana are misleading the farmers in the state.
The Telangana government has been pressing the Centre for the procurement of the entire paddy produced in the state. Last year, a delegation of Ministers from the state had even met union Ministers to make a clear announcement on paddy procurement, including the quantity
( With inputs from ANI )
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