Telangana Govt prepares for paddy procurement

Hyderabad, April 13

The Telangana Government on Wednesday began the exercise of procuring paddy from farmers following Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s announcement that the government would buy the grain.

State Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar held a meeting with officials regarding the procurement. An official press note quoted him saying 65 lakh tonnes of paddy were estimated to be available for procurement this 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. Putting an end to the row over procurement, the Chief Minister on Tuesday night had announced that the state government would set up procurement centres to purchase paddy at the minimum support price (MSP).

The ruling TRS and opposition BJP were engaged in a war of words over the issue. The Congress in Telangana on Wednesday met Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on the issue. Claiming the farmers had resorted to distress sale in view of the delay by the TRS government, it requested that the state government be directed to compensate the affected farmers. — PTI