TRS to hold agitation against Centre’s anti-farmer policies

KCR asked the party leaders and cadre at all levels to stage demonstrations, hold dharnas, take out rallies and burn effigies of the NDA government and the BJP leaders in the state.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Friday decided to hold a statewide agitation on December 20 to protest the anti-farmer policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre.

TRS president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao called upon the party cadre to go all out against the BJP as well as the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for discriminating against Telangana in paddy procurement. (HT Photo)

TRS president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who addressed a meeting of the party’s state executive committee meeting at Telangana Bhavan, called upon the party cadre to go all out against the BJP as well as the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for discriminating against Telangana in paddy procurement.

He asked the party leaders and cadre at all levels to stage demonstrations, hold dharnas, take out rallies and burn effigies of the NDA government and the BJP leaders in the state.

Briefing the media persons after the meeting, state agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy said the chief minister had asked the party cadre to go to the people and explain the adverse impact of the Centre’s refusal to purchase paddy from Telangana.

“At the same time, KCR has decided that we should continue to mount pressure on the Centre on the paddy purchase. A delegation of six cabinet ministers and 17 MPs would be leaving for New Delhi on Saturday to take up the paddy procurement issue with the Centre,” he said.

He said the MPs had already sought appointment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal to explain the prevailing situation in Telangana and request the Centre to clarify its stand on remaining paddy stocks for this season.

He said the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to purchase 40 lakh tonnes of rice i.e. approximately 60 lakh tonnes of paddy. “But paddy production in the state would be nearly 13 million tonnes as it is being cultivated in around 62 lakh acres during the Kharif season,” the minister said.

He said the state government had already procured more than 50 lakh tonnes and complete procurement of 60 lakh tonnes paddy in a couple of days. Since the Centre had assured to purchase the maximum quantity of raw rice from the state, the TRS would seek a clarity from the Centre in this regard, Reddy said.

The TRS executive committee meeting also discussed various other issues such as implementation of Dalit Bandhu and Rythu Bandhu schemes. KCR asked the party cadres to motivate the farmers to take up alternative crops.