Telangana: Union Minister Piyush Goyal criticised the Telangana government for politicising the issue of paddy procurement.
Responding to TRS MP K Keshavarao and MP KR Suresh Reddy in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Piyush Goyal said, "The Central government had been consistently increasing the procurement target every year. During 2018-19, the Centre procured 443 lakh metric tonnes of grain. We procured 518 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 and 600 lakh metric tonnes of grain from the states for 2020-21. In the case of Telangana alone, it has increased from 51.9 lakh metric tonnes to 94 lakh metric tonnes."
He said, "The Telangana government has promised to give 50 lakh tonnes during the Kharif season. So far, It has given only 32.66 lakh tonnes. In Rabi, they agreed to give 55 lakh tonnes. Finally, it procured only 61.87 lakh tonnes of paddy,".
He slammed the Telangana government for its inability to supply the quantity of rice, which it agreed to deliver.
"Telangana claimed that they procured 94.53 lakh tonnes. But, it was unable to provide the same to the Centre. Still, 29 lakh tonnes rice is pending and they are unable to give us the agreed quantity. I do not know why this political issue is being raised in Telangana. They have yet to supply 29 lakh tonnes. We proceeded to check the stocks physically and discovered various irregularities," said Piyush Goyal.
(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)