Opposition, farmers criticise Maharashtra government deadline for Tur buying

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government is facing brickbats from opposition parties and farmers' organisations for its decision to not procure tur from farmers who have registered with NAFED after April 22.

The move, announced on Tuesday to curb alleged profiteering by some traders selling tur through NAFED, has not gone down well with the Congress, the NCP and their allies like the Swabhimaani Shetkari Sanghtana (SSS).

Tur farmers across the county are facing huge losses after prices crashed due to a bumper crop. Tur now trades at less than the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,050 per quintal set by the state.To ensure farmers don't suffer heavy loss, NAFED, along with the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) and the Food Corporation of India (FCI), has been buying the pulse from them at the MSP.


But, the Centre and the state have decided to stop the procurment due to con cerns that unscrupulo us merchants have be en selling the cheaper `imported tur' to the government through NAFED at MSP and earning a handsome profit. This despite the NAFED buying only from farmers showing their 712 extract. The Centre believes that businessmen have been submitting fake 712 extracts to sell tur procured at market rates, which are less than the MSP.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday the state would buy tur from farmers registered with NAFED till April 22 . The state will incur a cost of Rs 1,000 crore for the procurement, he said.

“We are with the farmers and, hence, we have decided to help them. Till now, of the 11 lakh quintals purchased from across the country, Maharashtra alone has bought 4 lakh quintals. We want to help the farmers, but we will take action against those who, in the guise of being a farmer, sell tur from the market to the government to earn a profit,“ he said.

“The opposition should answer why they never purchased as much tur as we have. We have made a record purchase because we want to help the farmers.“

However, the Congress, the NCP and the SSS said that many would suffer huge losses due to the government's decision as they are still left with a huge stock of tur.“We will not allow the government to stop this procurement.