Hyderabad, March 18 (IANS) Opposition BRS legislators staged a protest near Telangana Assembly on Wednesday demanding payment of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for maize farmers in the state.

Holding maize cobs in their hands, BRS MLAs and MLCs gathered at Telangana Martyrs’ Memorial Gun Park before marching to the Assembly.

Led by BRS deputy leader in the Assembly T. Harish Rao, the BRS legislators raised slogans, demanding the government to open centres to procure maize and ensure payment of the MSP.

They also demanded the government to pay Rs. 500 bonus to maize farmers.

Harish Rao stated that trusting the government’s word, farmers cultivated maize across 8 lakh acres under the crop diversification initiative.

Harish Rao said that following repeated appeals by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao — urging farmers not to cultivate just paddy but to instead opt for crop diversification — farmers across the state trusted their words and cultivated maize.

Although the harvest arrived in the market 15 days ago, the state government has not yet opened procurement centres, he said.

Consequently, farmers are being forced to sell their maize — which commands a MSP of Rs. 2,400 — to middlemen for a mere Rs. 1,600 to Rs. 1,700.

The BRS said that on one hand farmers are suffering losses due to the lack of a support price while on the other, unseasonal rains have soaked the maize drying in market yards, leaving farmers in tears.

The hailstorms that lashed the region over the past two days have caused extensive damage to crops, including maize and mangoes, as well as various other agricultural produce.

The BRS leader slammed the government for not implementing the crop insurance scheme that was touted so loudly in the previous budget. Furthermore, there has been no trace of input subsidies for farmers for the past two years.

He urged the government to immediately seek reports regarding the crops damaged by rains in districts and conduct an enumeration survey without delay. Input subsidies must be paid immediately to the affected farmers to provide them with much-needed relief.

Tension prevailed at the Assembly entrance when the security staff refused to allow BRS legislators into the premises with cobs. The BRS alleged that the marshals tried to snatch the maize from Harish Rao, resulting in injury to his hand.

BRS claimed that the Chief Marshal acted as if supporting farmers was a transgression.

The MLAs questioned whether supporting farmers constitutes a crime on the part of the BRS. They alleged that the state government has once again exposed its anti-farmer stance.

The BRS legislators expressed their outrage over the conduct of the marshals and staged a protest at the entrance.

Raising slogans condemning the police and the government’s attitude, the members subsequently entered the legislature.

–IANS

ms/rad