Uttam Kumar Reddy rips into BJP government for not setting up turmeric board

Hyderabad/New Delhi: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and Nalgonda MP fired on BJP government for not fulfilling the assurance of setting up a separate turmeric board in Nizamabad district of Telangana.

Raising the issue in Lok Sabha during Question Hour on Tuesday, Uttam Kumar Reddy expressed dissatisfaction over the reply given by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare to his specific question on whether there was a proposal with the Central government to set up a turmeric board. He said instead of answering the specific question, the government was talking about the Spice Board looking after turmeric also.

Uttam said farmers have been agitating for many years for a separate Turmeric Board. He said Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Prakash Javadekar and BJP leader Ram Madhav gave specific assurance while campaigning for BJP candidates in last Lok Sabha elections that a Turmeric Board would be set up. He said nearly 80 per cent of the world's turmeric gets produced in India and half of it is grown in one district of Telangana (Nizamabad) alone. He said despite the assurance, the turmeric board has not been set up.

"What is the problem in setting up a turmeric board? There is no great financial cost. Land has already been allotted by the previous government," he said adding that the turmeric farmers were neither getting Minimum Support Price nor any market intervention. He said turmeric was a high cost export crop wherein farmers invest about Rs. 1.5 lakh per acre. "Why is the government not coming up with a turmeric board like Coconut or Tobacco Boards where you can give better varieties and facilitate exports?" he asked.

Responding to the points raised by Reddy, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala stated that the Spices Board was already handling nearly 50 spices including turmeric. He informed that an extension office of Spice Board has been set up in Nizamabad to deal specifically with turmeric and it became functional on February 20. With regard to the Market Intervention Scheme, he said that the Central government would approve the scheme if the State government sends a proposal.

Congress MP from Nalgonda expresses dissatisfaction over the reply given by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare in the Lok Sabha to his specific question on whether there was a proposal with the Central government to set up a turmeric board

MERE ASSURANCE…

♦ Says Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Prakash Javadekar and BJP leader Ram Madhav gave specific assurance that a turmeric board would be set up

♦ Nearly 80 per cent of the world's turmeric is produced in India and half of it is grown in one district of Telangana (Nizamabad) alone

♦ Says the turmeric farmers are neither getting Minimum Support Price nor any market intervention