Paddy procurement row: Baseless claims, only Rs 200 cr worth grains purchased so far, say Telangana ministers
Refuting the claims made by BRS working president KT Rama Rao and BJPLP leader A Maheshwar Reddy on paddy purchase and custom milled rice (CMR) auction, Civil Supplies and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy and IT Minister D Sridhar Babu on Sunday said that the allegations were false, fabricated and baseless.
Uttam warned that the saffron and pink party leaders will have to to face the consequences if they don’t “withdraw” their allegations.
The two ministers, with MLCs T Jeevan Reddy, B Mahesh Kumar Goud, MLAs A Laxman Kumar, Sanjeeva Reddy and TPCC media committee chairman Sama Rammohan Reddy, addressed a press conference at the Gandhi Bhavan.
“We are not the type of persons who would speak about paddy procurement in press conferences and discuss their land disputes in private with the top leaders in government,” Uttam said, indirectly referring to Maheshwar Reddy’s recent interaction with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
Challenging the BRS and BJP leaders to supply superfine rice at Rs 42 per kg duly following the tender norms, as claimed, he said that the state government will buy any quantity in the best interest of state and farmers.
Uttam said that the BRS and BJP have joined together to blame the Congress government when it is trying to set right the “mess and chaotic” situation created by the previous government with “revolutionary steps”.
He quashed the allegations of Rs 1000 crore scam by stating that only 30 LMT of paddy worth Rs 200 crore was procured by the time Maheshwar Reddy made his baseless allegations.
“How could a Rs 2,000 crore scam occur in the purchase of grain worth just Rs 200 crore?” he wondered.
He also said that the average cost of auctioning a quintal paddy was Rs 2,022 in the Congress government and it was Rs 1,700 during the BRS regime.
“There are contradictions in their letters. At one place, they ask why action was not initiated against rice millers and at the other, they object to taking action against rice millers who were defaulting on supply of CMR. There is not even an iota of truth in the allegations made by KTR and Maheshwar. While KTR and Maheshwar alleged a scam in procurement of superfine rice, I want to make it clear that not even a single grain of superfine variety of rice was procured,” he added.
Revenue Recovery Act invoked against millers
Stating that Revenue Recovery Act has been invoked against 43 rice millers, Uttam said that there was no government in history that has taken action against rice millers who have defaulted on the paddy, while maintaining that their policy is not going against industries but to take action against those who are playing with the government’s property.
He ruled out the allegations of Rama Rao over Kendriya Bandar being blacklisted, stating that it was blacklisted and unblocked during the BRS regime.
Lashing out at Maheshwar, Uttam said, “Maheshwar Reddy is trying overtake G Kishan Reddy on the BJP ladder. That’s why he is making up something to be in the news.”
Meanwhile, Sridhar Babu quashed the allegations of Rama Rao on industries leaving Telangana, stating it was not true as claimed. “In fact, we will attract more investments to the state than the previous government,” he added.
This article has been republished from The New Indian Express.