Hyderabad:Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Saturday questioned the Centre’s track record on farming matters and demanded accountability, in a response to Union minister of state Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s open letter criticizing the state government’s handling of farmers’ woes.
Nageswara Rao dismissed Sanjay’s accusations of state negligence in procuring paddy, maize, and other crops at minimum support price (MSP) and urged him first to approach Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for details on Centre-procured quantities, percentages, and payments.
“Your claim that the PM’s word is final and farmers must trust it is unacceptable,” he wrote, challenging BJP’s reluctance to enact legal guarantees for MSP.
Highlighting historical precedents, Nageswara Rao recalled Indira Gandhi’s 1966 support price and procurement policy via FCI, CCI, and Nafed that was implemented until 2014. Post-Modi government, he alleged the Centre abandoned efforts in non-BJP states, leaving procurement to the states. Since assuming office, the Congress government had waived loans of up to Rs 2 lakh for 25.4 lakh farmers, totalling Rs 20,625 crore, unlike the BJP states that were delaying their manifesto promises.
Nageswara Rao called the PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) as privatised loot that benefited insurers while leaving farmers with little. The earlier BRS government had scrapped it in 2019-20, he noted. Telangana now plans implementation of the scheme via the Agriculture Insurance Company of India, thereby excluding private firms. Despite the Centre’s hands-off approach on crop losses, the state government had disbursed `250 crore in two instalments. “What has the Centre credited to farmers’ accounts,” Nageswara Rao asked.
He said the government had procured 93,900 metric tonnes of jowar in 2023-24 at Rs 299 crore, 1.54 lakh MT of jowar in 2024-25 at Rs 521 crore and 4.35 lakh MT maize at Rs 1,044 crore this season. The government had paid Rs 3,153 crore in bonuses to farmers since taking office, spent over `4,000 crore on all procurements. He said the entre covered just Rs 1,000 crore via pool. No other state, including BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, was procuring this much, he said.
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