Kishan Reddy questions Telangana Govt’s stand on ₹500 bonus for fine rice only

Telangana BJP chief criticizes state government for bonus restrictions on rice varieties, demands incentives for all farmers.

Telangana BJP chief and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy has questioned Telangana Government’s stance of offering ₹500 bonus to fine rice only when the Centre is ready to purchase any kind of rice even up to 50 lakh metric tonnes, from the farmers across the State, under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) this season and demanded the incentive be made applicable for all rice varieties.

“The Centre has already assured to purchase every grain of paddy including boiled rice. However, the Government here is creating obstacles with an intention to backstab the farmers. Even the 22 lakh metric tonnes of Kharif rice is yet to be supplied to the central pool,” he claimed, at a press meet at the BJP State office in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

Mr. Reddy stated that the Government has an agreement with the Centre to supply 75 lakh metric tonnes of rice for the year 2023-24 and till date only 33 lakh metric tonnes of Rabi rice has been supplied. “Instead of expediting the paddy procurement even as the unseasonal rains are causing loss to the farmers, the Government has failed to respond appropriately,” he charged.

The majority of farmers will not benefit from the fresh conditions being sought to be applied for eligibility for the bonus as the number of those growing fine rice is very small. The Government could consider giving ₹1,000 per quintal as bonus for fine rice if it really wanted to encourage the production, he said, adding that the regime had “lost the confidence of the people within five months with its lack of hold on the administration”.

Accusing the Government of “slow procurement” or worse “inaction” even after hundreds and thousands of paddy bags have reached the procurement centres, he claimed that the farmers are being forced to spend “sleepless nights” waiting for the weighing process. The progress of procurement shows it could be take up to two months at this rate, he observed.

The BJP leader said the Congress Government has been oblivious to the farmers woes and wondered if “Soniamma rule” meant bringing tears to them. As per norms, the Government should be ensuring the process of procurement from farmers, milling from rice millers and sending the rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) efficiently, but this is not happening, according to him.

The Congress Party had promised to take up loan waiver of ₹2 lakh within 100 days of coming to power but has now put it off till August. “What happened to the ₹15,000 to be given to the tenant farmers? Not a single promise to the farming community has been fulfilled after making grand announcements, first during the Assembly polls and later for the Parliament elections,” he said.