Telangana delegation for Delhi to demand paddy procurement

Hyderabad, March 22 A delegation of Telangana ministers on Tuesday left for Delhi to meet the Central food and public distribution minister Piyush Goyal to demand that the Centre procure entire paddy from the state during Rabi season even as the Union Minister alleged that the state government is not cooperating.

A day after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao made the demand, the ministerial delegation left for the national capital.

Four ministers headed by minister for agriculture S. Niranjan Reddy along with Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs will call on the central minister Goyal to procure the entire expected yield of 30 lakh tonnes during Rabi season.

The Chief Minister has warned the Centre of a massive protest if it fails to buy the entire paddy from Telangana as is being done in the case of Punjab. He also demanded a uniform procurement policy for the entire country saying the Centre should not have different policies for different states.

Before leaving for Delhi, Niranjan Reddy told reporters that the Centre is buying entire paddy from Punjab at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and it should also procure the entire stock of paddy from Telangana at MSP.

He slammed Piyush Goyal for his statement that the Centre is ready to purchase paddy from Telangana but the state government is not cooperating with it. He termed as far from truth Goyal's comment that Telangana government which assured to collect paddy from the farmers and hand it over to the Centre has failed to do it.

Niranjan Reddy said the Centre failed to arrange railway rakes to transport the paddy and was blaming the state government.

He also came down heavily on BJP state president Bandi Sanjay for his remarks on paddy procurement. The minister said either the central minister or officials concerned should speak on the subject. "How is Bandi Sanjay concerned with this,a he asked.

After his meeting with Goyal in Delhi, Bandi Sanjay blamed the Chief Minister for the situation. He said KCR was blaming the Centre for his failure to procure paddy from farmers.

Meanwhile, TRS legislator K. Kavitha has taken to Twitter to lash out at BJP leaders for their statement. She demanded that the Centre should procure paddy from Telangana the same way as it is doing from Punjab.

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