Telangana BJP senior leader Gudur Narayana Reddy on Tuesday has demanded that the government speed up procurement of paddy and also protect farmers from the “loot” of rice millers and market agents.
In a media statement, he said that due to tardy procurement, farmers were forced to sell their produce to millers and were losing minimum support price advantage.
The millers have been purchasing paddy at ₹2,040 per quintal if the farmers agree to their conditions or paying ₹1,800 per quintal, which was nothing but daylight robbery. Farmers have suffered heavy untimely rains and brought the produce to the purchasing points with great difficulty.
Nearly 50,000 bags of paddy was washed away in the market yards and procurement centres due to rains. The government has purchased only 25% or 25 lakh tonnes so far of the 80 lakh tonnes output and this is forcing farmers to wait for days together at the mills and procurement centres, he added.
