Civil Minister Gangula Kamalakar has said the FCI is lifting the paddy stocks from the godown for the past four months leaving no space for the new stocks. The Centre that demanded raw rice is now delaying lifting the paddy stock. The FCI is adopting a hostile attitude towards the Telangana government. It is provoking the farmers to protest against the Central government, he said.
“We endured losses and supplied raw rice. The state government took the burden of loss from broken rice. The raw rice supplied as demanded by the Central government is not lifted for four months. This is very bad on the part of the Centre”, Mr Kamalakar said. Telangana Rice Millers Association president Gampa Nagender demanded that FCI immediately vacate the godowns lifting the raw rice. There are 11 lake tonnes of raw rice lying in the godowns. It is not shifting the same to other states as required. “We want the FCI to immediately vacate all our godowns and make way for the new harvest due in October,” he said.
It may be noted that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao decided to showdown with the Central government over the issue of paddy procurement. He exposed the BJP government’s attitude towards Telangana state and its farmers. He took a bold decision and decided to procure all the paddy from the state government itself. The Central government which went on record about the shortage of paddy is refusing to buy the same from the states like Telangana which recorded abundant paddy production. It is nothing but the double standard of the BJP and it might result in ruptured relations between the Centre and states.
By Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao