Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, Blasting the government for tardy procurement operations, People’s Party of Punjab Chief Manpreet Singh Badal today called for immediate steps to end the harassment of the farmers in the mandis and adequate compensation for the crop damage due to inclement weather.
“Despite the good intentions of the state government, the fact of the matter is that the farmers continue to face unnecessary harassment in the mandis and they have to wait for days on end to sell their produce, all this for no fault of theirs. The farmers can’t be penalised for natural calamities. The state government must step in to compensate the farmers for procurement at below minimum support price. Alternately, the amount of bonus should be hiked to at least Rs. 200 per quintal on wheat”, he said.
The PPP chief referred to the demonstrations being staged by the farmers all over the state and said the issue was also related to the food security in the long run. Already, farmers all over the country were committing suicides as farming had turned unremunerated. He said the demand for foodgrain was likely to increase over the period but the demoralised and pauperised farmers would not be in a position to come up to the situation. He made it clear the farmers should not be subjected to the push factor without making arrangements for alternative employment.
He said the Parkash Singh Badal government should not face much of a problem now as his party was part of the government at the centre. All issues concerning procurement should have been resolved by now as Punjab continued to the biggest contributor to the central pool. The state government could not take refuge in any other argument.
He called Upon Badal to stay put in the national capital till the issues concerning the farmers were resolved as at present, there was nothing more important than this.
