Telangana: Cotton mill owners and traders call off strike
Hyderabad: The stalemate over the cotton procurement crisis ended on Tuesday after the Telangana Cotton and Ginning Mill Owners and Traders Association announced the withdrawal of its indefinite strike, which began on Monday. The millers had halted operations in protest against the Cotton Corporation of India’s (CCI) decision to classify ginning mills into L1, L2 and LC categories and its cap of seven quintals per acre for procurement.
CCI chairman Lalit Kumar Gupta rushed to Hyderabad on Tuesday for talks with the millers. The meeting, convened by agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, brought both sides to the negotiation table. Following assurances from Gupta that all issues raised by the millers would be resolved within ten days, the association agreed to call off the strike and resume procurement from Wednesday.
More than 300 ginning mills had joined the strike, severely impacting cotton procurement. The association had earlier appealed to the state government to intervene, arguing that the CCI’s regulations were impractical and financially unviable. With no immediate action, the traders and millers launched an indefinite strike, prompting the state’s intervention.During the meeting, the CCI chairman Gupta stated that procurement norms would remain uniform across the country and that state-specific exemptions were not possible. He stated that he would escalate Telangana millers’ concerns to the Center and seek solutions within 10 days. Both Gupta and minister Nageswara Rao appealed to the millers to withdraw their agitation in the interest of farmers, leading to the association’s decision to resume operations.
Association president B. Ravinder Reddy and general secretary K. Ramesh said a unanimous resolution was passed to withdraw the strike, acknowledging the assurances extended by CCI and the state government.
Nageswara Rao, speaking after the meeting, said that ginning mills resorting to a strike would only worsen farmers’ hardships. He urged the millers to join the government in engaging with the Center and assured them of full support. He directed the agriculture secretary to prepare a detailed report on millers’ grievances and send it to the Union textile ministry. He instructed authorities to ensure procurement begins across all notified mills from Wednesday. Ageswara Rao criticized the Center for decisions that, he said, created confusion among farmers, including changes in procurement limits, from an initial 12 quintals per acre to seven, and stringent moisture norms, even after farmers suffered crop damage from unseasonal rains. He alleged that CCI’s Kapas Kisan app created additional hurdles, leading to delays and authentication issues.
The minister said the state government, though not directly involved in cotton procurement, consistently pressured the Center to ease restrictions and protect farmers’ interests. He criticized BRS leaders for politicizing the strike and said it was the Congress government’s timely intervention that helped resolve the crisis.
