Hyderabad, October 18: Seven opposition parties on Saturday urged the Centre to permit exports of surplus rice so that the farmers would get minimum support price.
A memorandum to this effect will be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is scheduled to visit the state on November 19.
Leaders of TDP, CPM, CPI, PRP, Lok Satta, Forward Bloc and RSP met here on Saturday at NTR Bhavan to discuss agriculture and micro finance issues.
Speaking to reporters later, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu demanded that the state can permit certain varieties of paddy to be exported, so that the farmers would get MSP.
He said the state was unable to purchase paddy of the last season and the godowns were already full with wheat from Punjab and Haryana.
In such a scenario, the state will not be in a position to purchase kharif paddy which would hit the market soon.
The millers had already expressed their inability to purchase the paddy and threatened to launch an agitation, Naidu said. On the other hand, the input costs and other expenditures were pushing the farmer into losses.
He requested the Centre to provide sufficient railway rakes to move the Punjab wheat from the state godowns so that the kharif paddy could be stored.
He also urged the state government to announce 20 per cent bonus on paddy to farmers.
The NREG scheme should be linked to agricultural operations and the government should distribute the surplus rice and wheat to the poor free of cost as per the Supreme Court directive. Naidu also demanded supply of rice at Rs 9 per kg to all APL families.
The state government should also open additional purchasing centres for procuring paddy at all mandals in addition to FCI purchase centres.
CPM state secretary BV Raghavulu said though the state government urged for 166 railway rakes for moving the wheat out of the state, the Centre provided only 33 rakes. CPI state secretary K Narayana, Lok Satta Party president Jayaprakash Narayan, PRP MLA K Kannababu, Forward Block president Deshpande and RSP leader Janakiramulu attended the all party meeting.
–Agencies