Fuel price hike increases cultivation costs, burdens farmers: Telangana Transport Minister

Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “breaking the backbone of common people” through rising petrol and diesel prices while simultaneously conducting “deceptive political yatras” in the name of farmers.

Reacting to the Telangana BJP’s “Rythu Gosa – BJP Bharosa” yatras, the minister said the Centre was attempting to divert public attention from pressing issues faced by farmers and the common man. He alleged that if the BJP truly cared about Telangana farmers, it should first reduce fuel prices, which have drastically increased cultivation costs.

Increase in cultivation costs

Mr. Prabhakar said farmers were reeling under the burden of escalating diesel and petrol prices, which have sharply increased expenses related to tractors, irrigation motors and transportation. “The BJP leaders who speak about farmer welfare are remaining silent on the issue of fuel prices that directly affect agricultural operations,” he remarked.

Paddy procurement issues

The minister also accused the Centre of failing to fully procure paddy cultivated by Telangana farmers. He alleged that the Union government was not cooperating in sanctioning boiled rice procurement and granting approvals for levy rice despite repeated requests from the State government.

According to the minister, the Centre approved procurement of only 53.73 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, while the Telangana government had set a target of procuring 75 lakh metric tonnes to protect farmers from distress.

Highlighting the State government’s efforts, Mr. Prabhakar said Telangana had established 8,575 paddy procurement centres across the State and was purchasing 8.5 lakh metric tonnes of paddy waiting at procurement centres on a war footing. He added that 21 crore gunny bags had been made available at the field level to avoid inconvenience to farmers.

The minister said that the government had so far procured 51 lakh metric tonnes of paddy and deposited ₹8,749 crore towards Minimum Support Price directly into farmers’ bank accounts.

Targeting the BJP over its election promises, he said the party had failed to fulfil assurances of doubling farmers’ incomes and providing monthly pensions to farmers above 60 years of age.

Referring to the controversial farm laws, Mr. Prabhakar alleged that BJP policies had caused severe hardships to farmers nationwide and claimed that over 700 farmers had lost their lives during the agitation against the laws.

Calling the increase of MSP for maize by only ₹10 per quintal “shameful”, he demanded an apology from the Central government to maize farmers.