KCR Sets 24-Hour Deadline To Centre For Paddy Procurement

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Monday set a 24-hour deadline to the Centre for procuring the entire paddy produced in Telangana.

"If the Modi government fails to respond on the matter, the TRS government will come up with an action plan to protect the interests of farmers and expose the double standards of the BJP government," KCR said.

The Chief Minister was addressing a protest he was leading at Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi, with the party's MPs, MLAs, MLCs and entire cabinet participating in it.

"Farmers were not beggars, and have every right to demand that the government purchase their produce. I once again request Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Agriculture Minister Piyush Goyal to consider the genuine plea of Telangana's farmers and purchase their entire paddy produce as is being done in the case of other States. There should be a uniform food grain procurement policy for the country. We will wait for 24 hours for your response. Later, we will chalk out an action plan to intensify the agitation and to protect the interests of the farmers," KCR said.

Coming down heavily on Goyal, who KCR claimed had advised the ministers' delegation to make the people of Telangana develop the habit of eating broken rice, the CM said that the union minister didn't have basic knowledge of the geography of Telangana, and that his remarks were nothing but arrogance.

"We are agitating here after travelling over 2,000 km. Kindly understand the pain of the farmers who are unable to find a suitable price for their produce. Governments which have caused suffering to the farmers in the country have never survived for long," KCR said.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait also expressed solidarity with the Chief Minister at the day-long protest.

Meanwhile, a State cabinet meeting will be held chaired by the Chief Minister at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad at 2 pm on Tuesday. The cabinet is likely to discuss and come up with an action plan for paddy procurement.