Kishan Reddy hits out at TRS govt

Hyderabad: Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Sunday lashed out at the State government, alleging that the ruling TRS party had brought the issue of the parboiled rice to the fore only after facing a humiliating defeat in the Huzurabad Assembly by-election.

He alleged that the State government had not yet given raw rice to the Centre, adding that stocks of parboiled rice were lying in godowns. He said none used parboiled rice; even children were not eating it. Reddy said different States had reduced their production.

Speaking on steps initiated by the Centre, Reddy said as, against Rs.3,400 crore spent in 2014 for procuring paddy, he said it spent Rs.26,600 crore last year. Referring to the statements made by him and BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on the issue, he claimed that procurement of paddy would not go up in the State due to the statements.

The minister made it clear that the Centre would procure paddy as per the agreement executed with the State. He said stocks of rice were lying idle for the last six years, adding that the Centre was distributing Rs.2.6 lakh crore worth of rice free to people across the country.

Reddy also said that the Centre was also giving 3-a-kg rice free to 80 crore people of the country. He said the stocks of raw rice had piled up in the country. "The rice would be wasted if the Centre bought it for political reasons".

Commenting on the rise in prices of petrol and diesel in the country, Reddy blamed the ongoing war between Ukraine-Russia for the sudden increase in the prices. He claimed that the party had lost the elections due to mistakes in Punjab.