Punjab govt flays Centre, Haryana backs decision
THE CENTRE’S move to ban the procurement by the private agencies for a period of 45 days is being welcomed with open arms by the Haryana, while Punjab is taking it with pinch of salt.
By Viney Sharma & Madhvi Sally, TNN |
CHANDIGARH: THE CENTRE’S move to ban the procurement by the private agencies for a period of 45 days is being welcomed with open arms by the Haryana, while Punjab is taking it with pinch of salt.
Haryana finance minister Birender Singh made it clear that by banning the private players for a span of 45 days will go in favour of Haryana farmers. Nevertheless this move has failed to appease the Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal. Speaking to ET, Mr Birender Singh said, “I think this is the best proposition and favours farmers. Per quintal increase is unprecedented. Because of the private players we lost Rs 60 crore last year. Even if any other state will not allow procurement by FCI, that will hardly matter as 85% of wheat procurement n the country is done from Haryana and Punjab only.”
The ET on Wednesday reported that the farmers unions in the state are up in arms and will not allow FCI to procure wheat. Political parties and agriculture unions in Punjab and Haryana are up in arms against the government for giving instructions to the corporate’s to not purchase their stocks from the two states.
At the same time Mr Badal Punjab said, “If private companies are paying more MSP than FCI, it definitely favours farmers.”
Though senior Akali Dal politicians were not ready to say if an open conflict with the Centre would emerge in the coming days they did acknowledge that the very decision of the Centre to allow private players purchase wheat from the states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat was questionable.
Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board and the president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union informed that as part of the union and being a farmer a special meeting of kisan union would be held on April 1 at Ludhiana, where they would devise strategy to boycott wheat procurement by the state. “ Agriculture is a state subject and the Centre cannot ban private companies. We boycott and even hoard if the situation comes,” he said. DS Cheema, advisor of Punjab chief minister said that he was unaware of the scenario and were taking steps to ensure that farmer get payments from mandis in 48 hours.
Haryana finance minister Birender Singh made it clear that by banning the private players for a span of 45 days will go in favour of Haryana farmers. Nevertheless this move has failed to appease the Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal. Speaking to ET, Mr Birender Singh said, “I think this is the best proposition and favours farmers. Per quintal increase is unprecedented. Because of the private players we lost Rs 60 crore last year. Even if any other state will not allow procurement by FCI, that will hardly matter as 85% of wheat procurement n the country is done from Haryana and Punjab only.”
The ET on Wednesday reported that the farmers unions in the state are up in arms and will not allow FCI to procure wheat. Political parties and agriculture unions in Punjab and Haryana are up in arms against the government for giving instructions to the corporate’s to not purchase their stocks from the two states.
At the same time Mr Badal Punjab said, “If private companies are paying more MSP than FCI, it definitely favours farmers.”
Though senior Akali Dal politicians were not ready to say if an open conflict with the Centre would emerge in the coming days they did acknowledge that the very decision of the Centre to allow private players purchase wheat from the states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat was questionable.
Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board and the president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union informed that as part of the union and being a farmer a special meeting of kisan union would be held on April 1 at Ludhiana, where they would devise strategy to boycott wheat procurement by the state. “ Agriculture is a state subject and the Centre cannot ban private companies. We boycott and even hoard if the situation comes,” he said. DS Cheema, advisor of Punjab chief minister said that he was unaware of the scenario and were taking steps to ensure that farmer get payments from mandis in 48 hours.
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Terming it as a prejudice against the farming community of two states, Indian National Lok Dal ( INLD) secretary general and RS MP Ajay Singh Chautala and State INLD president Ashok Arora announced that INLD would not tolerate this at any cost and a suitable action plan to oppose this move would be chalked out after discussions at the party forum. “MSP cannot be made maximum price, government should let the market open the market forces,” said INLD leaders. Mr Chautala said that Centre imported lower quality wheat at the Rs 1,300 per quintal while the farmers were given only Rs 650 for the same, but later on market prices were Rs 1,100 to 1,200.Download
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