Farmers protest officials’ failure to procure paddy in Telangana’s Narayanpet

Complain that rice mill owners are refusing to procure their stocks citing orders from officials

Narayanpet: After officials failed to procure their paddy stocks for three days, farmers of Maganoor and Krishna mandals staged protest near Vadvat gate on National Highway 167 on Thursday resulting in heavy traffic jam.

Raising slogans against the Congress government, over 50 farmers along with tractors loaded with stocks, squatted on the road.

The farmers complained that the rice mill owners were refusing to procure their stocks citing orders from officials. They charged that rice mill owners were directed to procure only specific quantities ranging from 2, 000 quintals to 5,000 quintals per season.

As a result, when farmers from Maganoor and Krishna mandals arrived at a rice mill with the stocks, the management refused to procure, saying that already prescribed quantity was procured and excess quantity cannot be procured, according to reports.

Irked over the rice mill management’s decision, the farmers staged a protest. As traffic movement was affected on the highway, police intervened and tried to convince the farmers but they did not relent.

As the protest was being intensified local agriculture officials and Primary Agriculture Cooperate Credit Society members spoke to the rice mill management and instructed them to procure the stocks from farmers. After the rice mill management gave assurance, farmers called off their protest, the reports said.