TRS organises State-wide protest against Centre's paddy procurement policy

Mounting pressure on the Central government against its paddy procurement policy, the ruling TRS organised State-wide protests in all Assembly constituency headquarters here on Friday. Along with farmers, Ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other elected representatives participated in the Rythu Maha Dharnas organised in their respective constituencies, demanding the Centre to make a clear announcement to purchase the entire paddy yield from Telangana. They also demanded to stop discrimination between the States in the paddy purchases.

Farmers, along with the TRS cadre, took part in large numbers to express their support for the demand to the Centre to continue procurement of boiled rice produced in the Yasangi (Rabi) season. The protests were staged in front of the Collectorates, revenue divisional offices, Tahsildars’ offices and other places as well as highways and major junctions. 

The TRS made it clear that their protests were also



against new farm laws which have provisions of discontinuing minimum support price, provisions of fixing energy reading meters to agricultural pump-sets and others. They rode bullock carts and protested with paddy saplings as part of the dharna.

Raising slogans against the Centre and holding placards, nearly three lakh agitators, including TRS cadres and farmers, joined the leaders in the sit-in to protest the Centre’s refusal to lift the entire stock of paddy from the State. The TRS State leadership constantly monitored the arrangements to make the protests a success. 

The TRS leaders have already obtained necessary permissions for dharnas from respective district Collectors in the wake of the Model Code of Conduct ahead of MLC polls. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao recently called for the protests, to expose the double standards of the BJP on paddy purchases.