Farmers block highway demanding purchase of paddy

Suryapet: Expressing their ire over delay in purchasing the paddy at PACS centre in Suryapet town, hundreds of farmers on Monday staged a protest on national highway and demanded the government to buy their paddy before the rains hit their paddy shifted to the procurement centre.

Speaking to the media, a few farmers questioned the officials as to how far it was correct to neglect the purchasing of paddy in the name of shortage of gunny bags and transporting lorries for the last one week.

They further informed that officials have not responded positively even after their repeated appeals to purchase the paddy shifted to procurement centre. After receiving the information, CI Shiva Shankar tried to convince the farmers to withdraw the protest, but in vain.

At last, farmers withdrew their dharna after assurance of immediate buying of paddy by Joint Collector D Sanjeeva Reddy personally. Vehicles on the either side of the national highway stalled for kilometers as the farmers' staged protest for more than an hour.