Rama Krishna S
“We want to expose anti- farmer attitude of BJP government at the Centre. We want this government to go,” said Telangana Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy.
“Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has been trying hard to secure justice to Telangana farmers whose paddy produce is not fully procured by the Centre,” said the minister.
In an exclusive chat with Excel India in Hyderabad on March 31, Niranjan Reddy explained that the CM was ready to intensify the fight against the Centre till a proper pro-farmers’ policy was adopted by the government.
Niranjan Reddy along with three other ministers – Gangula Kamalakar (civil supplies), Vemula Prashanth Reddy (roads and buildings) and Puvvada Ajay Kumar (transport) was in Delhi last week and represented to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal the rice procurement problems faced by farmers of Telangana.
Some BJP leaders say that why this is an issue in Telangana, not in other states?
They don’t the basic problems faced by farmers of Telangana. Due to our climatic conditions, the paddy produced by us here yields higher percentage of broken rice, around 12-15 per cent of the total output of rice. That’s the reason why our millers convert the rice into boiled or para-boiled rice, which is not taken by the FCI (Food Corporation of India).
Why the Centre is adamant on this issue?
Because, they have no idea of the actual agricultural conditions in the country. They think, this is not an issue at all. The casual attitude of the central ministers is nothing but insulting our farmers. Telangana has its own climatic conditions and our farmers face specific problems. The BJP ministers not able to understand the gravity of the issue.
We were shocked to see the insensitive attitude of Goyal to our problems. We don’t know why the BJP government is not taking the problem seriously. But, we will not leave the issue at this. Our CM KCR will pursue this issue at the national level. We may go to Delhi again on the same issue and fight with the Centre.
Do you think again going to Delhi is useful?
Last time we went to Delhi to ask the ministers to lift our rice stocks, but this time, our purpose will be different. We want to explore the BJP government’s anti-farmer policies or lack of a proper policy to procure rice from the farmers. We have no other go but to mount pressure on the Centre and mobilize support for our cause from different quarters.
Are you working on solutions to the problems of Telangana farmers?
Of course, definitely. Our CM KCR will take right decisions to save the farmers only after seeing the final response from the Centre. But, before that we will hold a meeting with all farmers’ unions and agriculture experts so that a proper national level policy can be chalked out. Unless we remove the BJP from the Centre, these policy changes may not be possible.
good one
Thank you 😊