Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy and Roads and Buildings Minister V. Prashanth Reddy demanded that the Centre should give a written assurance over paddy procurement without any further delay. They said that Ministers and Lok Sabha members have been waiting in New Delhi for the past three days to meet Union Minister Piyush Goyal but he was away in Mumbai on Saturday and Sunday.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi on Monday, the Ministers said that Rajya Sabha member K. Keshava Rao contacted Mr. Goyal informing him that Ministers and MPs are waiting to meet him and that the Union Minister wanted them to come and meet him in the Parliament.
“Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao came here twice and held discussions with the Centre. We have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre to procure 40 lakh metric tonnes of rice and 60 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. The target of paddy procurement will be completed by today or tomorrow.
The Union Minister said in Parliament that they are ready to buy any quantity of raw rice when we asked for increase in the quantity. But there is no written assurance,” said Mr. Niranjan Reddy adding that as many as 6,952 paddy procurement centres were established in the State and harvesting is yet to take place in Bhupalpally and combined Khammam districts even as paddy is yet to reach the procurement centres.
“We have to pay the farmers within three or four days after completing the procurement. We need written assurance from the centre on paddy procurement. If the Centre does not pay, what should we do?” asked the Agriculture Minister.
Alleging that the Centre has been indulging in politics on paddy procurement, Mr Niranjan Reddy said that the issue can be sorted out within five minutes if the Union Minister spares five minutes time. Alleging that the Central Minister has been asking them to come repeatedly, he said that they have been patient for the sake of farmers. The Minister said that godowns are not vacant and milling capacity is only 10 lakh metric tonnes and that the Centre is not taking rice that is ready.
Roads and Buildings Minister V. Prashanth Reddy said that they are speaking about present procurement and not about summer. “Centre should give not only written assurance but also lift rice immediately,” said the Minister.
