Congress slams TRS government for halting paddy procurement

Mahbubnagar: Congress leaders of Devarkadra constituency slammed the TRS government and district leaders for stopping paddy procurement in Devarkadra mandal.

Speaking to the media here on Tuesday, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Secretary and Devarkadra constituency in-charge G Madhusudhan Reddy alleged that the State government is creating problems to the farmers by delaying paddy procurement in the district, who toil hard to produce the yield. "On one hand, the TRS leaders were making tall claims of opening paddy procurement centers in each and every village and urban areas. However, the ground reality is completely different," he pointed out.

'Farmers, who were bringing their agriculture produce to the market yards and procurement centers, were forced to stay for days and weeks. As there is no one to come forward to buy their produce in market yards, they are at the mercy of agriculture officials and market officials and literally begging them to buy their produce. But neither the officials nor TRS leaders are heeding their problems and citing silly reasons like lack of gunny bags, lack of lorries for transporting etc and halting procurement process,' he alleged. Dur to this, many farmers were facing tough time and a few of them were forced to sell their produce to private traders at lower prices and to face loss, he added.

Citing the example of farmers at Devarkadra market yard, Madhusudhan Reddy said farmers have been waiting for the officials to procure their paddy for more than 20 days. But the officials were insensitive to the farmers' plight, he added. The Congress leader demanded Devarkadra MLA and Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy to address the farmers' problems immediately. Else, he warned that the Congress will take up agitation until the TRS government resolves the issue.

The Congress leader demanded the government to provide transport facilities to shift the procured grains to mills and storage points in view of the fast spreading Covid-19 pandemic in the district. At the same time, the government should resume paddy procurement process immediately and relive the farmers from the hardships, he added.