Centre ready to purchase raw rice: Kishan Reddy

Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy on Monday found fault with Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for announcing ex gratia to farmers who died in agitations in Delhi, while ignoring deaths of farmers in Telangana. 

As a Union Minister, he promised that the Central government would procure ‘raw rice’ from the State as per the agreement signed, but did not elaborate on the quantity of raw rice to be procured.

Speaking to mediapersons at the BJP State office here, Kishan Reddy said while none were objecting to the Chief Minister’s decision to provide ex gratia to the kin of farmers, who died during agitations in Delhi, the families of farmers who died in



Telangana State for the last seven years were being ignored. He demanded to know how many Telangana martyrs’ families or the families of unemployed youth who committed suicide in Telangana were provided with ex gratia.

The Union Tourism Minister said the Chief Minister was making contradictory statements on paddy procurement and causing confusion among people as well as farmers. He said Chandrashekhar Rao as well as the Ministers had been claiming that the State government was procuring paddy crop for the last seven years, but were now asking whether the Central government was purchasing paddy for the first time as the previous governments too purchased paddy.