Farmers Movement Archive

Telangana cites loss to end direct purchase of crops from farmers

HYDERABAD: At a time when farmers are protesting new farm laws and demanding Minimum Support Price (MSP) in the country, Telangana said on Sunday it will not purchase agricultural produce from procurement centres from next year as it has incurred massive losses. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday led a review meeting where officials announced that state has suffered Rs 7,500 crore loss on purchase of various agriculture products bought from farmers by offering MSP to them, the chief minister’s office (CMO) said. State Planning Commission vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar told TOI that offering MSP is the responsibility of the central government. It was a decision of CM KCR to set up procurement centres in villages to buy agriculture produce at MSP as the farmers did not have market facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We are only reverting to the old system of allowing farmers to sell their agriculture produce at agriculture markets as was the case before Covid-19 pandemic. CM KCR had clearly told three months ago that the state government’s plans of purchasing agriculture produce of farmers were due to lack of market facilities during the pandemic and it would not be forever,” said Vinod Kumar who attended the meeting. While the government offered MSP to farmers, it did not get the same price, when it sold the agricultural products in the open market later. “We should not purchase agricultural produce of farmers by setting up procurement centres in the villages from next year. The farmers should sell their agriculture produce at the market yards to those from whom they get the best price,” an official was quoted by the CMO as having said. The high-level review meeting was held two weeks after CM KCR’s return from New Delhi after his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, among others. “The government is not a business organisation and sale and purchases are not its responsibility. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the government was purchasing agriculture products on humanitarian grounds so that farmers did not suffer losses. It is not possible to continue it,” the CMO said.

The Times of India

2020-12-28

Hyderabad