Centre being unfair to Telangana over chilli farmers issue, says Pawan Kalyan

A day after the Centre intervened in the case of protesting chilli farmers from Telangana and Andhra, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan slammed the central government for being 'unfair' to Telangana.

Following multiple appeals from leaders of both states as farmers raged against the falling prices of chillies, the Centre stated that it would buy the chillies at Rs 5,000 per quintal until May 31, under its Market Intervention Scheme (MIS).

Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu had said that a maximum quantity of 88,300 metric tons of chillies in Andhra Pradesh and 33,700 metric tons in Telangana can be procured under the scheme by state agencies.

Lashing out, Pawan, in a press release, said, "The Centre should procure the same quantity of chillies from Telangana state too.” 

“The remunerative price of Rs 5,000 per quintal of chillies, as announced by the Centre, will not provide the required help to farmers who are distressed by the falling prices and the Centre should increase the price,” he added.

Earlier this week, the actor-turned-politician wrote to the Andhra government, demanding that chillies be bought at Rs 11,000 per quintal from the farmers. 

“Due to the negligence of the government towards farmers, they are being forced onto the roads and the incidents of protests by chilli farmers in the two states stand as an example to the situation. It is not good for the country if the farmers are left to cry,” he said in a media statement.

Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, whose TDP party is part of the NDA coalition, also said that the MSP announced by the Centre was not enough, and should be raised to Rs 8,000 per quintal.