Alleging discrimination against Telangana farmers, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday urged the Centre to supply urea to the state according to the approved quota, pointing out that there has been a shortfall of around 3 lakh metric tons. The shortfall was causing immense hardship to the farming community, he said.
He said the state has already approached the Centre several times on the shortfall in urea supply.
Although the chief minister did not mention it in his statement, his party MPs and BRS have alleged that the Centre has agreed to supply urea to AP following an appeal from HRD minister Nara Lokesh to Union minister JP Nadda.
Urging the Centre to immediately supply urea to meet the shortfall, chief minister A Revanth Reddy today issued a statement pointing out that the approved quota of urea for the state was 8.30 lakh metric tons for the current Kharif season. However, only 5.32 lakh MT of urea has been supplied so far.
The farmers have been queuing up overnight at distribution centres and sleeping on the ground for urea. Long queues of footwear were also seen outside the distribution centre as the farmers were desperate for the fertiliser.
The state Congress MPs have also sought an adjournment motion in the Parliament and after it was turned down, they organised a protest where they were briefly joined by party MP Priyanka Gandhi. They alleged that the 8 BJP MPs were silent on the key issue instead of putting pressure on the Centre to meet the shortfall. The MPs have also met the Union minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers on the issue.
Reddy has also met the Union minister in the past and agriculture minister T Nageswar Rao has written several letters, but to no avail.
“He also criticised the Centre for its continued negligence, noting that despite repeated efforts by Telangana MPs, including raising the matter in Parliament and staging a protest on behalf of the farmers, the supply still does not match the approved quota,” said the statement.
The Congress government in Telangana is under severe pressure not only from the farmers but also from BRS, which has pointed fingers both at the state and the Centre.