Stressing the need for a national foo grains procurement policy, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has reiterated his demand that the Central Government should procure the entire quantity of paddy produced in the State after meeting the State’s PDS requirements, in line with the MoU entered with the State Government.
In a detailed letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said it was incumbent upon the Centre to procure whatever paddy available in Telangana. “While this has been the practice in the past, I am constrained to bring it to your notice that the Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs is disinclining to procure paddy since the past two years,” he said.
He said the fact that implementation of MSP and enforcement of National Food Security Act 2013 was the primary responsibility of the Centre should not be ignored. The State Government, having realised the need for diversification of crops, took several proactive measures to encourage farmers to expand cultivation of cotton, oil palm, red gram and other crops.
