Telangana: KCR Writes To PM Modi Demanding National Policy For Procuring Food Grains
The chief minister also said that in case the Centre failed to respond positively to the state's request, there will be 'action-oriented' protests.
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing tension between the Centre and Telangana government over procurement of paddy, chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday demanding a uniform policy for procuring food grains across the country.
This comes a day after a delegation of Telangana ministers left for the national capital to meet the Central food and public distribution minister Piyush Goyal and demand the Centre to procure entire paddy from the state during Rabi season even as the Union Minister alleged that the state government was not cooperating.
In a letter addressed to the prime minister, Rao wrote, “You are aware that around half of the population in our country depends on agriculture as primary occupation and also main source of livelihood. In addition, agriculture sector contributes significantly to the growth of other sectors of economy both as raw material supplier and also as a consumer of finished goods and services, thus playing a very crucial role in the overall economy of the nation. Therefore, we should have a national food grains procurement policy, which should be uniform throughout the country and cover all food grains. Further, such policy should have suitable statutory backing to ensure its implementation.”
“I strongly recommend that you may convene a meeting with agricultural experts and Chief Ministers to discuss and debate to formulate a suitable National Procurement Policy,” he further wrote.
Earlier, KCR said that during the last Rabi season, paddy production in Telangana was 54-55 lakh tonnes and this year, it is likely to come down to 35 lakh tonnes due to the efforts of the state government to encourage the farmers to go for crop diversification.
Of this, three lakh tonnes of paddy will be used for seeds while two lakh tonnes will be kept by farmers for their own use.
Making it very clear that food security of the country is the Constitutional responsibility of the Central government, KCR, as quoted by news agency IANS, had said, "It can't run away from this responsibility citing surplus production. Even if there is surplus production, the government should keep it as buffer stock, process it or even bear some losses."
"You take paddy and pay MSP as you are doing in Punjab. Nothing plus nothing minus," he added.
The chief minister also said that in case the Centre failed to respond positively to the state's request, there will be 'action-oriented' protests.
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