Uttam Flays Centre Over Turmeric Board Issue

TPCC head and MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy today lambasted the BJP-led Centre for not fulfilling its promise of setting up a separate turmeric board in Telangana's Nizamabad district.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour, Reddy expressed severe 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 Centre to set up a turmeric board.

He said instead of answering the specific question, the government had made a vague explanation about the role of the spice board in looking after the production of turmeric.

"The farmers in Nizamabad have been demanding the establishment of a separate turmeric board for many years now. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Prakash Javadekar had given the farmers the specific assurance while campaigning for the BJP candidates before the last Lok Sabha elections that the board would be set up soon. However, the leaders failed to make good on their promise. This is shameful, especially since nearly half of the total turmeric produced in the country comes from Nizamabad. India is responsible for producing 80% of all the turmeric grown in the world. Nizamabad has played a role in helping the country achieve this as well. It is high time that the Centre recognises this," the MP added.

"What is the problem in setting up the board? There is no great financial cost that will be incurred in doing so. Land for it has already been allotted by the previous Congress government. Perhaps the board will finally help the district's turmeric farmers sell their crops at the correct MSP instead of at throwaway prices. Turmeric is a high cost export crop, and farmers invest about Rs 1.5 lakh per acre in its cultivation. Why won't the Centre then strengthen Nizamabad's turmeric growers? This will help them greatly as it will facilitate exports." he said.

Responding to the tirade, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala stated that the Spice Board was already handling the production of nearly 50 spices including turmeric. He informed Reddy that an extension office of the Spice Board has been set up in Nizamabad to deal specifically with turmeric, and that it had been functional on February 20.

With regard to a Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for turmeric farmers, Rupala claimed that the Centre would approve such a scheme if the state government sent a proposal, and added, "Since the Telangana government has not sent any proposal seeking an MIS for turmeric, the Centre has also not done anything to implement or sanction one."

Not satisfied with the minister's reply, Reddy asked him to specify why the Centre was so unwilling to set up a separate Turmeric Board in Nizamabad. He said that he had visited the regional office of the Spice Board in the district and had found that it was only providing export licenses instead of dealing with the issues of the farmers, and added that a dedicated Turmeric Board would be able to deal with all problems being faced by the farmers more effectively.

In response, Rupala out listed the other steps being taken to help the turmeric farmers, but maintained that it was clear that there was no need, as of now, to set up the board.

While the minister was addressing Reddy's queries, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla permitted a supplementary question from Chikkaballapur MP B N Bache Gowda of the BJP who demanded the setting up of a national turmeric board. Yet again, the minister asserted that there was no need for such a board, and pointed out that the new extension office of the Spice Board had started e-Mandis and helped nearly 5,000 turmeric farmers in Khammam and Warangal find markets, to justify his stand.