TRS intensifies protest over paddy procurement

Hyderabad, April 4

Intensifying its protest over paddy procurement issue, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Monday staged demonstrations across Telangana denouncing the Centre for not procuring paddy from the state.

Leaders and cadres of the state's ruling party organised protests in all mandals, demanding that the Centre procure entire paddy from the state during the ongoing Rabi season.

Ministers, MPs, state legislators and other public representatives of the party participated in the protest programmes in all 33 districts.

Agriculture minister S. Niranjan Reddy, who led the protest in Mahabubnagar district, said the party would further intensify its protest in support of the genuine demands of the state government.

Transport minister P. Ajay Kumar led the protest on highway at Manchukonda in Khammam district while minister for civil supplies Gangula Kamalakar led the protest in Karimnagar district.

The TRS leaders said their protest will continue till the Centre agrees to procure entire paddy from Telangana as is done in case of Punjab and other states.

Holding party flags and raising slogans against the Narendra Modi government, the protesters staged sit-ins.

The protests in mandals were held as part of the first of the five-phase protests announced by the TRS against the Centre over its refusal to procure paddy.

Under the second phase, the party will organise 'rasta roko' on Mumbai, Nagpur, Bengaluru and Vijayawada national highways on April 7.

This will be followed by protests in all 12,769 villages. TRS has appealed to farmers to put up black flags atop their houses, take out protest rallies and burn effigies of the central government.

Under the fifth phase, state ministers and public representatives will stage a protest in Delhi on April 11.

TRS working president said that despite repeated requests by the state government and the visit by a ministerial delegation to Delhi to meet union food minister Piyush Goyal, the Centre refused to procure paddy from the state and was insisting on raw rice.

He said the state had been demanding that the Centre should procure the entire paddy as it is procuring from Punjab. "When you can have one nation one ration, why can't you have one nation one procurement," he asked.

Meanwhile, TRS parliamentary party has given a notice to move privilege motion against Piyush Goyal for uttering lies in Parliament.

TRS parliamentary party leader K. Keshava Rao Piyush Goyal has misled the Parliament by stating that India is not exporting parboiled rice due to restrictions imposed by WTO.

Keshava Rao and other TRS MPs claimed that the Centre is exporting parboiled rice. "When the Centre is exporting parboiled rice, why can't it procure the same from Telangana," asked the TRS MP.