Telangana High Court on Tuesday issued notices to State government in response to a PIL petition seeking procurement of jowar (sorghum) cultivated by farmers in different parts of the State.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili, after hearing the plea filed by a social activist Sangepu Borranna of Adilabad, instructed the government to file counter affidavits within two weeks. The petitioner contended that it was not fair on the part of the government not to begin procurement of jowar with minimum support price.
He told the court that farmers cultivated jowar on 25,984 acres of land in the State, mainly in Adilabad district in the year 2021-22. The anticipated yield in Adilabad alone was around three lakh quintals. While the market rate of jowar per quintal was around ₹1,500 to ₹1,700, the government fixed MSP at ₹2,738 but was not making the procurement at that price.
The ryot spends an average of ₹21,040 per acre to grow jowar. The average crop yield is about 12 quintals per acre. The petitioner maintained that farmers would incur loss of ₹3,040 per acre if jowar is sold at market rate. However, the farmer stands to gain ₹11,816 per acre if the government bought jowar with MSP, he stated in the plea.
In a separate writ petition, the division bench directed the Principal District Judge of Nalgonda and the Nalgonda District Legal Services Authority secretary to inspect ‘shishugruhas’ in the district every three months and submit a report on the status and condition of the children there to the Director of Women Development and Child Welfare.
If the inspection report finds any deficiencies in the maintenance of ‘shishugruhas’, the Director should rectify them, the bench said disposing of the writ petition filed by Balala Hakkula Sangham.
