Piyush Goyal insulted farmers of Telangana, laments Harish Rao

Hyderabad: After the clarification from Union Minister Piyush Goyal on paddy procurement in the Parliament, Finance Minister Harish Rao on Friday alleged that Piyush Goyal has insulted the farmers in the State. He said that the comments of Piyush Goyal in the Parliament over paddy purchase are not satisfactory. He said that the State government will pressurize the Central government to purchase the paddy from the farmers. He said that the government is working for the welfare of the poor. He reminded that the government has implemented Rythu Bandhu, and Rythu Bima for the sake of the farmers. He also said Dalit Bandhu for the sake of the Dalits in the State. He informed that the government is aiming at providing Dalit Bandhu to 2 lakhs families this year.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister Piyush Goyal in the Parliament has clarified that the Centre will buy the excess raw rice from the States. On Friday, He has clarified that the States can purchase other varieties of rice among other states. He recalled that the State government has clearly mentioned that it will not provide para-boiled rice to the Centre. He slammed the State government for misleading the people against the Central government. Piyush Goyal also said some of the chief ministers also warned not buying the paddy from their states. He said that the centre will work on the MoUs that were taken from the states. He said that the Centre has one policy for all the states. He also said that except for the raw rice, the Centre is not ready to boiled or para-boiled rice from the states.

Meanwhile, Huzurabad MLA and BJP leader Eatala Rajender on Friday came down heavily on the TRS government over the paddy procurement issue. He stated that the government is misleading the people over the Central government. He said that the Centre had already told that it will not purchase the boiled rice previous Kharif season. He clarified that the Centre is not showing any partiality against the state government. He demanded the State government buy every grain of paddy from the farmers and it is the process. He alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is blaming the Centre for its political mileage. He said that the people are aware of the Centre's policies and they are always with BJP.

On March 30, the Central government in the Parliament clarified that it is not buying boiled rice from the States. In a written reply to the Parliament MoS for Rural Development, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said that the Central government will buy not boiled rice anymore. However, she maintained that the States can purchase boiled rice according to their needs. She reminded that the Centre has clarified that it will purchase boiled rice in the last Kharif season. In the year 2020-21, the Centre had purchased 47.49 lakh metric tonnes of boiled rice in the Kharif season. She said that the Centre has purchased 6.33 lakh metric tonnes of raw rice.