Telangana is demanding that the Centre procure more paddy from farmers in the state. The food ministry, however, has said it will not take parboiled rice. But why?
Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) launched a sit-in protest in New Delhi on Monday, demanding that the Centre procure more paddy from farmers in his state. The CM also wants assurance from the central government on the amount of rice it will obtain every season.
Rao threatened to intensify the protest against the Centre’s paddy procurement policy if he did not get a response from the Narendra Modi government in 24 hours.
“If Modi has the guts, let him arrest me… With folded hands, I tell the PM and [Union Food Minister] Piyush Goyal. Please buy our food grains. I give you 24 hours, after that, we will take our decision,” said the Telangana leader.
What is the paddy procurement policy? And why is KCR miffed with the Modi government? We take a look.
The problem of plenty in Telangana
There has been a bumper paddy crop followed by excessive growth in Telangana because of the state government’s irrigation projects and uninterrupted power supply.
According to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the state assured farmers that the Centre would procure all paddy from them, encouraging them to sow the crop.
Under the procurement policy, “whatever wheat and paddy are offered by farmers, within the stipulated period and conforming to the specifications prescribed by Government of India, are purchased at Minimum Support Price (MSP) by the state government agencies including the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for the central pool”.
Parboiled rice, the sticking point
Telangana has complained that the FCI has refused to procure parboiled rice – rice that has been partially boiled before husking.
However, the Centre has maintained that it cannot purchase parboiled rice since it is not consumed in all Indian states. The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said, “It was decided in the meeting held on 17 August 2021, that no parboiled rice will be accepted in the Central pool for Kharif marketing season (KMS) 2021-22 from any state due to high stock level. However, states can procure parboiled rice for their own consumption.”
Is the Centre discriminating?
Telangana reportedly has a stock of 75 lakh tonnes. The Centre had promised to procure 65 lakh tonnes of which it has procured 45 lakh tonnes. It has refused to procure anything more than the promised 65 lakh tonnes but the TRS wants to Centre to take the complete stock, according to a report in The Indian Express.
TRS leaders allege that the FCI procured more grains from Punjab than Telangana – 186.86 lakh tonnes from the northern state compared to 70.26 lakh tonnes from it.
“It is this discrimination and apathy towards our farmers which we want to highlight,” state agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy told the newspaper.
The FCI has an agreement with states on how procurement is possible under the decentralised model that Telangana follows. Since parboiled rice is not consumed in many states, the FCI has retained the option of specifying what kind of rice it will take from these states.
Under this model, the state procures and mills rice for the Public Distribution System on behalf of the Centre, based on its requirement. It keeps its required quantities for the PDS, and the balance is transferred to the FCI, reports The Hindustan Times.
The FCI, however, has the option to specify whether the excess rice shall be in the form of raw or parboiled rice.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait joined Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s protest in Delhi. ANI
TRS vs BJP
In Telangana, the TRS and the opposition BJP have locked horns over the issue, which has now snowballed into a bigger controversy. The chief minister has now taken the fight to New Delhi.
Roa, who is leading the protest at the Telangana Bhawan in the capital, is joined by other TRS leaders and Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, who was leading the massive agitation against the Centre’s now-repealed farm laws.
K Kavitha, TRS MLC and daughter of KCR, demanded a common procurement policy for the country. “Our farmers are not getting the right price. We request the Central government to procure paddy from our state. We demand a common procurement policy. Rakesh Tikait has earlier also talked to CM K Chandrashekar Rao over agricultural issues and he has come here to support us,” she told the media.
This is the party’s first protest in New Delhi after coming to power in the state in 2014. TRS MPs, MLAs, all cabinet ministers, and elected representatives of urban and rural local bodies sat on a dharna in Delhi on Monday.
Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay had assured the farmers that the Centre would take all paddy from them. However, he later took a U-turn and said the Centre would only purchase raw rice and not parboiled rice, which the state produces during the rabi season.
“If the Centre is purchasing parboiled rice from any state in the country then I will make it to purchase the same rice from Telangana,” he reportedly said in response to the protest.
What KCR said in his letter to Modi
In a letter to Modi last November, KCR requested the Centre to step up rice procurement through the FCI and come up with an annual procurement plan in advance so that the state could plan its agriculture calendar.
He also pointed out that some of the FCI policies were confusing for the farmers and the state government. “The FCI has not fixed any target of rice procurement for the entire year in one go. Further, even though the production is increasing year after year, the procurement is not keeping pace with it,” he had said.
However, there was no response from the Centre.
TRS leaders kept raising the issue along with the demand for a uniform procurement policy. They now hope that their big paddy protest in New Delhi will help draw attention to its problem.
With inputs from agencies
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