Centre Will Resume Procurement Of Rice From Telangana With Immediate Effect: Union Minister Piyush Goyal

Union Minister said that he has decided to start the immediate procurement of rice with the intention that the farmers should not suffer due to the wrong actions of the state government. 

Hyderabad:  The Union Government on Wednesday permitted the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to resume the procurement of rice from the Telangana state with immediate effect. Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal, has announced that he has withdrawn the decision to stop rice procurement from Telangana. 

Addressing a press conference, Piyush Goyal said that the Centre was forced to stop rice procurement from Telangana after the state government stopped implementing the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana Scheme in April of this year despite the Center providing Rs 5 kg of free rice to each ration card holder for distribution.

The minister said that the Centre was also forced to stop procurement because the Telangana government ignored the Centre's instructions to take action against the millers who committed irregularities in rice stocks.

Goyal said, According to information provided by the Telangana government, rice distribution under the Prime Minister's programme began in June. Additionally, they promised to deliver the April and May backlogs in July and August. They assured to take legal action against dishonest rice millers. So the Center has chosen to resume rice procurement from the state of Telangana after receiving their guarantees and considering the welfare of the state's farmers and underprivileged.

The union minister has explained that he has decided to start the immediate procurement of rice with the intention that the farmers should not suffer due to the wrong actions of the state government. 

He criticised the Telangana government, calling it the most "insensitive" to farmers and the underprivileged. Additionally, he claimed that the Telangana government was more interested in playing politics than serving the poor who depend on Public Distribution System (PDS) rice for their food needs.

(With inputs from ABP Desam — It is a Telugu platform of ABP News. For more news, commentary and latest happenings from two Telugu states, follow https://telugu.abplive.com//amp)