Hyderabad: Accusing the Telangana govt of failing to ensure timely paddy procurement and safeguard farmers’ interests, Union coal minister G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday alleged that administrative lapses had triggered distress among farmers, forcing them to resort to protests. He claimed the state govt responded only after BJP MPs and MLAs launched an agitation over the issue.Leading a delegation of Telangana BJP MPs, MLAs and MLCs, Kishan Reddy met Union food and public distribution minister Pralhad Joshi and submitted a memorandum seeking the Centre’s intervention to protect farmers in the state.Kishan Reddy said the responsibility for procuring paddy, milling it and delivering rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) lies with the state govt, while the Centre reimburses the expenditure incurred for these activities. He alleged that Telangana lacked adequate procurement infrastructure, including sufficient gunny bags, warehousing facilities, and an efficient rice milling network.He claimed that against the target of supplying 36 lakh metric tonnes of rice to the FCI from the 2024-25 kharif procurement season, the state had so far completed less than 13% of the deliveries. He further alleged that rice delivery targets for the 2024-25 rabi season remained largely unmet, while significant quantities from the 2025-26 kharif and rabi procurements were yet to be supplied to the FCI.The Union minister said the Centre had consistently supported Telangana’s procurement operations through the National Cooperative Development Corporation. He asserted that the Union govt had extended financial assistance to states without discrimination, irrespective of the party in power.Responding to BRS working president KT Rama Rao’s call for a protest in Delhi over farmers’ issues, Kishan Reddy said that if BRS and Congress leaders jointly staged a dharna, the BJP would place before the public what it described as the Centre’s extensive support to Telangana farmers.
