BRS stages protest at Telangana BJP MP's house over cotton procurement

Hyderabad, Nov 5 (IANS) Tension prevailed at the residence of BJP MP G. Nagesh in Adilabad as BRS cadres staged a protest to demand that the Centre remove the restrictions on cotton procurement in the state.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders and workers staged the protest in front of the residence of Adilabad MP. The protestors tried to barge into the house, leading to a tense situation.

Police rushed to the spot and tried to control the situation. A scuffle broke out between the police and the protestors.

The police later detained BRS leader and former minister Jogu Ramanna and other leaders.

The BRS leaders were staging the protest over the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) imposing restrictions on cotton procurement. The CCI has fixed the limit of seven quintals per acre for the procurement of cotton from farmers.

BRS leaders sat on the protest at the MP’s house to demand that he exert pressure on the Centre to lift the restrictions.

Jogu Ramanna criticised the Central government for imposing new conditions on cotton procurement. He slammed the CCI for not giving exemptions for cotton with higher moisture content while also capping the total quantity to be procured.

Adilabad district, bordering Maharashtra, is known as a major cotton production centre, and farmers at the agricultural market yard in Adilabad town have been staging protests over the restrictions imposed by the CCI.

The CCI recently issued an order reducing the procurement limit from 13 quintals per acre to 7 quintals. This has caused concern among farmers, who demanded that the CCI lift all restrictions.

Farmers have also expressed dissatisfaction with the existing restrictions on permissible moisture content in cotton.

Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao wrote a letter to Union textiles minister Giriraj Singh and CCI managing director Lalit Kumar Gupta, urging them to roll back new rules for cotton procurement.

The minister cited reports from District Collectors indicating that the average cotton yield in the state is around 11.74 quintals per acre. He wrote that the CCI reducing the procurement limit to seven quintals per acre would cause them heavy losses.

The agriculture minister also urged the CCI to procure cotton with up to 20 per cent moisture content to prevent further hardships to farmers, who have already suffered huge losses due to heavy rains.

--IANS

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