Revanth wants CBI probe into theft of lakhs of tonnes of rice from FCI godowns

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MP A. Revanth Reddy demanded a CBI probe into the alleged theft of lakhs of tonnes of rice from the godowns of the Food Corporation of India.

Referring to the statement made by Union agriculture minister Piyush Goyal in the Rajya Sabha saying that discrepancies were found in the rice stocks and registers when the Central teams went for physical verification, the TPCC chief said the Centre should've ordered a CBI probe then and there.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Monday, Revanth said that rice procured by the FCI has allegedly been stolen from its godowns in Telangana. He said this was revealed when a team of FCI visited a godown in Warangal and found that nearly 25,000 MT of rice were missing. "This was just the tip of the iceberg. If 25,000 MT of rice were stolen from just one godown, then imagine the magnitude of theft from all other godowns. This is a huge multi-crore scam involving TRS leaders, millers, and officials," he alleged.

Stating that the BJP government is working in tandem with the TRS, he said the Centre should have immediately ordered a CBI probe. However, all irregularities were hushed up by both TRS and BJP leaders starting new dramas on paddy procurement, he alleged.

Revanth further said, "It is strange that TRS leaders get Piysh Goyal's appointment within no time but the Union minister is not giving appointment to the Congress MPs."

The TPCC chief said the TRS government did not meet the target in paddy procurement in 2018, 2019, and 2020. He said the government was short by 25% in those three years. The target to procure paddy was 1.03 crore metric tonnes but the TRS reduced the target by 20 lakh MT. As against the target of 84 lakh MT, so far, only 32% have been purchased. The procurement which should've started by dussehra has been delayed by nearly 60 days and it will take another three months to reach the target, Revanth said.

He accused the TRS of pushing the paddy farmers into the clutches of the rice miller mafia. He alleged that the TRS was lying about the number of paddy procurement centres in Telangana. As against the claims of having 6,875 procurement centres, not even 3,500 centres actually exist in the state, he said and challenged the TRS government to prove the existence of all 6,875 centres along with the details of paddy procured at each centre.

He alleged that Chief Minister KCR was implementing all provisions of the repealed farm laws in Telangana to help Adani and Ambani. The announcement made by KCR that there won't be any procurement centres in the Yasangi season clearly means that the farmers would be forced to sell their produce directly to the corporates, he alleged. In this scenario, lakhs of farmers will not be able to insist on MSP for their produce and they will be forced to accept whatever price is offered by the big corporates, he added.

Protest by TRS MPs in Parliament is "drama"

Revanth alleged that TRS MPs were enacting "the drama of protest" in the Parliament. "If the TRS is holding genuine protests and believes that the BJP government is the culprit in not procuring paddy, then why is KCR not coming to Delhi to protest when the Parliament is in session? Why is KCR not making a representation to PM Modi and agriculture minister Piyush Goyal on the issue? he asked.

He said that the drama by TRS MPs would come to an end on 7 December (Tuesday). "I've learned from reliable sources that KCR got directions from the BJP leadership to end their 'so-called' protest in Delhi with immediate effect. Therefore, the TRS MPs will enact their last show on Tuesday and silently return to Hyderabad," he said.

Revanth said Congress would not remain a mute spectator to the injustices being done with paddy farmers. "The Congress party will soon stage a dharna at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to expose the anti-farmer policies of both the TRS and BJP governments. We will also expose that TRS and BJP are two sides of the same coin," he said.