Congress walks out from Lok Sabha on issue of paddy procurement from Chhattisgarh

New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) Accusing the Centre of discriminating against Chhattisgarh on the issue of paddy procurement, the Congress on Wednesday walked out of the Lok Sabha.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Congress leader Adhir Rajan Chowdhury said the Central government has been denying the right of procurement affecting 13.5 lakh marginal farmers of the state which is called the 'Rice bowl of India'.

"This (Union) government has stopped procuring paddy from Chhattisgarh for the last two years. This is wrong. This government is anti-farmer," he said.

The central government has been discriminating with Chhattisgarh, he said, adding, it purchased rice from each state across the country but did not do so from Chhattisgarh.

He requested the government to intervene and start procurement of paddy from the state.

Since there was no response from the government on this, the agitated members of Congress walked out of the House.

The Congress government led by Bhupesh Baghel had been mounting pressure on the Centre to allow procurement of paddy at a higher price.

As promised before state polls in November 2018, the state government purchased the crop for Rs 2,500 per quintal in the kharif marketing season 2018-19.