TRS decides to boycott Parliament session on issue of paddy procurement in Telangana

New Delhi: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Tuesday decided to boycott the remaining part of the Parliament session on the issue of paddy procurement in the state.

TRS leader K Keshav Rao said that the Centre has been saying that it will not procure `parboiled rice` which means that there will be no procurement of rabi crops. "We demand that the government bring national procurement policy," Rao said.

The MPs of the party held placards which read bring Bill for MSP and decide on rabi crops. The party has been raising the issue of procurement since the Parliament commenced work but has not got any assurance from the government, TRS leaders said.

With the Centre ruling out lifting of the parboiled rice from Telangana, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday announced that the state government will not set up paddy procurement centres in the coming Rabi season.

Lashing out at the Centre for "running away" from its social responsibility, he told the farmers that the state neither has the financial capacity to procure the rice nor the infrastructure to store it.

He, however, assured the farmers that the government will buy the entire paddy produced during the current Kharif season. Rao said though the Centre has not agreed to enhance the procurement target beyond 40 lakh tonnes, the state government will procure the entire paddy despite the losses it has to bear.

The Chief Minister said the Centre has agreed to buy only 40 lakh tonnes during the ongoing season though the production is expected to be 90 lakh tonnes. He warned that the paddy not procured by the Centre during the current season will be dumped at the offices of the BJP and at the India Gate in Delhi.

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