Hyderabad: K.T. Rama Rao, the working president of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), has leveled accusations against the Congress-led Telangana government, claiming a Rs 1,000 crore scam in paddy lifting and rice procurement.
KTR has called on Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy to address these allegations. He has challenged them to initiate a judicial inquiry with a sitting judge to clear their names.
During a news conference at the BRS central office, Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad, KTR accused the Congress party of misappropriating government funds. He claimed that the civil supplies department, overseen by Uttam Kumar Reddy and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, awarded tenders to four companies for lifting paddy from rice millers in the state. He alleged that the entire tender process, including committee formation, guideline issuance, and tender calls, was completed on January 25.
“The government showed no urgency in fulfilling electoral promises but quickly and dubiously awarded these tenders in just one day,” KTR stated. He accused the Congress government of siphoning off government funds under the pretext of global tenders for 35 lakh metric tons of paddy.
KTR noted that local rice millers were willing to buy the same paddy for Rs 2,100 per quintal, but the government sold it at prices between Rs 1,885 and Rs 2,007 per quintal to companies such as Kendriya Bhandar, LG Industries, Hindustan Company, and NACAF, who secured the tenders by quoting lower rates.
KTR further accused these four companies of extorting local rice millers by demanding Rs 2,230 per quintal, which is Rs 200 more than their tendered rates, resulting in an Rs 800 crore scam. He highlighted that, according to the tender agreement, these companies had no right to demand money instead of paddy from the rice millers.
He pointed out that these companies failed to lift the paddy within the stipulated 90-day period, which ended on May 23, and have since requested an extension from the government, which is under positive consideration. He accused the government of trying to extend the period to extract more money from the millers instead of penalizing the companies for violating tender conditions.
KTR demanded the government release a white paper detailing the amount of paddy lifted and address the allegations of money collection from millers instead of paddy. He criticized the government for its silence on this multi-crore scam for over two weeks and faulted the government policy for tendering fine and raw paddy at the same price.
He condemned the government for purchasing fine rice at Rs 15 more per kilogram than the market price. He noted that the BRS government, under KCR, had introduced fine rice for school and hostel students as a humane initiative, but the Congress government was exploiting this noble cause for corruption. He pointed out that new fine rice with 10 percent broken rice is priced at around Rs 42 per kilogram in the market, while the government is paying Rs 57 per kilogram to companies.
KTR revealed that the same four companies involved in the dubious paddy lifting tenders were also awarded tenders for buying fine rice, raising public suspicion. These companies quoted nearly the same rate in tenders, blatantly rigging the process, he said.
He reminded that the previous government used procured paddy for fine rice supply, securing better quality fine rice at just Rs 35 per kilogram. He accused the current government under Revanth Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy of engaging in a Rs 300 crore scam in fine rice procurement by procuring 2.20 lakh metric tons. He demanded the immediate cancellation of tender awarding letters for fine rice procurement from these questionable companies.
KTR urged the BJP and its leaders to demonstrate their commitment by involving central agencies and the FCI to investigate this scam. He noted that the FCI always monitors paddy procurement and minimum support price transactions as per the Food Security Act. The central government’s silence also raised suspicions of collusion with the Congress government in this paddy scam.
KTR warned that if the Congress and BJP fail to clarify their roles in this thousand-crore paddy and fine rice scam, they would seek judicial intervention.
