Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who until recently opposed the farm laws, has now said that it was not possible for the state to purchase all the agriculture produce at minimum support prices or MSP — a key demand of farmers protesting near Delhi. On Sunday, KCR conducted a review meet on the procurement of various crops in the state and sales of agricultural produce in the market.
During the meeting, he said that in wake of the corona pandemic, his government had set up collection centres in villages and procured crops with a humanitarian perspective so that farmers do not suffer but it would not be possible to do the same every time. “The government is not a business entity. Not Rice Miller, not Dal Miller. Purchases and sales are not the responsibility of the government. So it will not be possible to set up purchasing centers in villages from next year,” the chief minister’s office said.
The Chief Minister’s stand comes in stark contrast to what he had said weeks ago when he supported the Bharat Bandh, called by farmers against Centre’s three Farm Acts. The farmers have been demanding guaranteed MSP on all agricultural produce and repeal of all three laws, that allows the farmers to sell their produce anywhere. Now, citing the same laws, KCR has said that the farmers can sell their produce anywhere and that his state cannot be expected to procure all produce.
On Sunday, the CMO said that new farm laws were being implemented in the country, now farmers can sell their crops anywhere. “So the government itself does not need to set up purchasing centers in the villages,” KCR said. He, however, said that sales and purchases in agricultural markets will happen in an orderly manner.
KCR further said that despite buying at a support price from farmers, his government was selling those crops at a lower price due to lack of market demand. He said that the purchases of crops such as paddy, maize, sorghum, lentils, sorghum and millets had so far caused losses of nearly Rs 7,500 crore. The loss was Rs 3,935 crore due to grain purchases alone.
The chief minister further said that farmers should not bring their crop to the market all at once but should bring it in batches so that they can get good prices.