Kavitha protests on delay in Paddy procurement

Hyderabad: Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS) chief Kalvakuntla Kavitha criticised the state govt over its “cruel and indifferent” attitude toward the farming community. Speaking at a protest demonstration in front of the secretariat on Friday, she said distressed farmers were dying directly on their harvested grain heaps due to procurement delays. She demanded the govt to set up more procurement centres.Flanked by TRS cadres, women, and local farmers, Kavitha staged a sit-in and poured paddy on the road to protest the govt’s failure. Protesters raised strong slogans against the administration before the police high-handedly arrested them. Kavitha, along with several women and farmers, was forcibly shifted to the Falaknuma police station and later released.Lashing out at the govt, Kavitha pointed out that the CM has not conducted a single review meeting on the agriculture department in the last two and a half years.She demanded the state govt to procure every single grain of paddy, jowar, and sunflower, and immediately grant ex-gratia compensation to the families of farmers who lost their lives. She alleged that authorities are deliberately registering Grade-A paddy as Grade-B to evade paying the promised bonus on fine-variety paddy (Sanna Vadlu). She added that district collectors are adding to the woes of the farmers while unfair weight deductions (Tarugu) further exploit farmers. “The govt must take immediate action to prevent farmers from being cheated by middlemen,” she said.Kavitha warned that if the CM does not immediately review the agricultural crisis and open procurement centers, the TRS would launch intensive, state-wide agitations across all districts starting from Saturday.