India (21/12/2021): The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal, today said that procurement of paddy and rice from Telangana has increased threefold in the past five years, while the Minimum Support Price has also increased significantly, increasing the benefit to the state’s farmers by four to five times.
The Minister said the State Government has failed to deliver the agreed quantity of rice and paddy grown by Telangana’s farmers in last year’s Rabi season. So far, the State is yet to deliver to FCI godowns about 27 lakh tonnes. The shortfall includes about 14 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice and 13 lakh tonnes of raw rice. Goyal said the Centre had agreed to procure an additional 20 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice grown in last year’s Rabi season as a special gesture towards the farmers of Telangana although the country did require this additional quantity. He said the Centre had repeatedly given extensions to the State Government for the delivery of rice.
On the issue of Parboiled rice, Goyal said that FCI had enough stocks to meet demand for four years and the MoU with the State clearly says that FCI’s purchase of rice for the central pool will depend on the demand in the rest of the country. Accordingly, the Telangana Government had given a written commitment in a letter dated Oct 4, 2021 that the State will not deliver parboiled rice to the Food Corporation of India in future.
The Minister further said that there was no issue in the purchase of raw rice and FCI had significantly increased purchases from the State. He said that the Central Government has given top priority to the welfare of farmers all over the country, including Telangana. He said the Telangana Government should quickly supply the agreed quantity of rice grown in last year’s Rabi season in Telangana as per the agreement, and it should not mislead the farmers in the state.
Responding to queries about availability of rakes and storage space, Goyal emphasised that there was no such problem at all and the State must supply the agreed quantity of grain instead of making wild allegations.
Government of India is always with the farmers of Telangana and people of Telangana and, it will always take steps for their welfare, Goyal emphasised.
