Farmers Movement Archive

No separate turmeric board in Telangana, says Centre; farmers fume

HYDERABAD: The Centre on Tuesday ruled out setting up a Turmeric Board in Telangana, a demand that had drawn the attention of the country after 170 farmers filed their nominations resulting in the defeat of sitting MP from Nizamabad K Kavitha, daughter of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The turmeric board issue had attracted national attention also because several farmers from Nizamabad went to file their nominations in Varanasi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to highlight their demand in 2019 polls. Union minister of state for agriculture Parshottam Rupala on Tuesday said a Spice Board already exists for 50 spices and the government was of the opinion that an exclusive board was not required for a single spice (turmeric) as of now. He said this in the Lok Sabha during question hour. He was replying to a question by Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy of the Congress, who said BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Prakash Javadekar and Ram Madhav had promised setting up of a turmeric board during their election campaign in Telangana. In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, BJP candidate Dharmapuri Arvind had given a written promise on a bond paper that he would convince the Centre to set up the Turmeric Board in Nizamabad if he was elected as MP and won the seat defeating Kavitha. The turmeric farmers from Nizamabad are now demanding that Arvind should resign for failing to fulfill his promise. “Arvind should resign to exert pressure on the BJP government for a turmeric board. The farmers fraternity will ensure his win again if he is able to get a turmeric board,” said Venkatesh Kola, a turmeric farmer who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha poll against Kavitha. However, Arvind said the divisional office of the Spices Board in Nizamabad has been upgraded to a regional office-cum-extension centre. “This regional office has been given more functions and powers than the turmeric board would have. The government has taken several initiatives for the welfare of turmeric farmers and is promoting new varieties of the spice. After three new farm laws come into effect, the role of Board would minimise as farmers would be all powerful,” he said. The ruling TRS and the Congress party tore into Arvind over the issue. “He derived political advantage by projecting that he would bring turmeric board here and now he should explain to the farmers his stand. He had misled the farmers and now has to face their wrath,” said Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar of the TRS. Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy questioned the logic of not giving a turmeric board. “There is no great financial cost. Land has already been allotted by the previous government. The turmeric farmers are neither getting Minimum Support Price nor any market intervention. Turmeric is a high cost export crop wherein farmers invest about Rs. 1.5 lakh per acre,” he said.

The Times of India

2021-03-17

Hyderabad