Hyderabad, March 23 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) alleged a scam in export of rice to the Philippines and demanded a House Committee to probe the same. However, Civil Supplied Minister, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy denied the allegation and stated that the Telangana government has entered into an historic agreement with the Philippines government.

BRS Deputy Leader in Telangana Legislative Assembly, T. Harish Rao, made the allegation in the House during Question Hour.

He sought details on export of rice to the Philippines and appointment of Premchand Garg as advisor. The BRS leader said Garg was facing cases booked by central agencies including the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Alleging that a scam took place in the export of rice, Harish Rao wanted the Speaker to constitute a House Committee to probe the 'scam'.

Harish Rao wanted clarification from the government as to why it did not call tenders for export of rice. He asked why a private company was awarded the work on nomination basis.

The BRS wanted to know from the government to clarify if 7,500 tonne rice was still lying at Kakinada port. He also wanted Civil Supplied Minister, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, to clarify if the government was paying warehouse and handling charges at the port.

Harish Rao alleged that the state suffered losses due to the alleged scam in rice export and demanded a House Committee to probe the allegations.

N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, however, denied the allegations and stated that there was no link between rice export and Premchand Garg.

The BRS registered a protest for allegedly failing to get an appropriate reply from the minister.

Uttam Kumar Reddy stated that Telangana has become a global rice market and the state government has entered into an agreement with the Philippines government for exporting rice from Telangana by eliminating middlemen’s role.

Stating that it was a historic agreement, he said there no scam on it. He gave the assurance that the state government would purchase the last grain from farmers at minimum support price during Rabi season.

He also stated that the state government was committed to provide Rs.500 bonus to farmers on fine rice and Rs.3,500 crore was allocated for giving bonus.

--IANS

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