Qaisar Mansoor
Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao launched a day-long ‘dharna’ and demanded the procurement of ‘paddy’. They have issued an ultimatum to Modi government, giving it 24 hours to purchase 15 lac tonnes of ‘paddy’ from the state’s farmers, otherwise, the party would take the protest to a national level. TRS had also raised posters and billboards around the Bhawan, carrying slogans such as, ‘One Nation, One Paddy Procurement Policy’ and ‘Central government should protect the interests of the farmers.
Telangana Chief Minister also warned Prime Minister Modi not to “play with the sentiments of farmers” because they have the power to topple governments. Telangana Chief Minister said, “Farmers are not beggars; they have the right to seek minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.” Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait, also supported the TRS’s protest.
Apart from the demand for a ‘new agriculture policy’, TRS Chief Rao also hit out at the Union government’s “disrespectful” treatment of state leaders and farmers alike. “Why does the Centre have so much ego? Farmers will suffer and it will not be good for anyone. You are not functioning like a democratically elected government, yours is a shadiantra (conspiracy) government and the people of the country are noticing it”, ‘Indian Express’ quoted Rao as saying.
It is pertinent to mention here that Telangana government announced ₹ 3 lakh as compensation each to the families of the 750 farmers who died while protesting against the Centre’s farm laws at Delhi borders.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao also demanded the central government to give ₹ 25 lakh to the families of the farmers who died and withdraw all cases against the protesting farmers.
The compensation announced by Telangana will cost the state ₹ 22.5 crore, said the chief minister, popularly known as KCR. He also requested the protest leaders to send details of the farmers who died.
Moreover, he demanded the Centre to withdraw all cases against farmers and their supporters, and to bring a law on Minimum Support Price in the winter session of the Parliament.
KCR held a massive dharna in Hyderabad on behalf of the paddy farmers in his state and declared that he would not shy away from taking on a national leadership role on the farmers’ issue. Today’s announcement appears to be a step in that direction.
The chief minister also demanded that before anything else, the farmers in the country should be made ‘aatmanirbhar’.
He demanded annual procurement policy by Food Corporation of India (FCI) well in advance. He said the Centre should clarify regarding the enhancement of paddy procurement for Kharif season as requested by Telangana and the purchase of boiled rice in Rabi season.
He also demanded caste-based census as per the resolution adopted by the state assembly, besides withdrawal of the Electricity Amendments Bill.
