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Chandigarh, July 19
Congress party today held a demonstration against the Modi government in front of Parliament House at New Delhi in the leadership of the Punjab Pradesh Congress committee President and MP from Gurdaspur Mr. Sunil Jakhar on the issue of procurement of crops from farmers below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) declared by Union Government.
On this occasion, the Congress MPs belonging to different states of the country participated in the protest and raised the slogans against the Modi government with maize grains in their hand to highlight the failure of BJP led NDA government to procure farmer’s produce as per rate announced by Government of India under MSP policy of nation. On this occasion, Mr. Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Mr. Santokh Chaudhary, Mr. Gurjit Singh Aujla, Sushmita Dev, Sashi Tharoor, Gaurav Gogoi, KC VenuGopal, Rajiv Satav were also present.
Interacting with the media persons on this occasion, Mr. Sunil Jakhar said that Prime Minister Mr. Narender Modi is busy in claiming that his government is providing MSP at the rate of one and a half times the cost of production to the farmer at every platform, but these claims are totally hollow and far from the truth. He said that the Central Government has notified the minimum support price of maize Rs. 1700 per quintal this year but it is being sold at Rs. 600 to Rs. 700 per quintal in various states of country including Punjab. He said that on 11th July, a day when the Prime Minister had addressed a so called ‘kisan Kalyan Rally’ at Malout in Punjab, farmers of Punjab were selling their maize crop at Just Rs 660 per quintal against the announced MSP of Rs 1700 for maize. While sharing the official data of market he said that on July 12th price of maize in Punjab was Rs 660, on July 14th it was only 600 and on July 16th it was Rs 700. He said that these figures are automatically exposing the truth of Modi government’s claims regarding MSP.
Mr. Jakhar said that declaring MSP in not enough, because mere announcing the MSP could not solve the problems of peasantry. “If the center had really worried about the farmers, procurement at MSP must be ensured, if prices clinch down in open market,” he added. He said that not only maize, Central Government does not even procure cotton in Punjab.
Mr. Jakhar further said that in such a scenario by organizing the thanks giving rally for PM, Shiromani Akali Dal had stabbed the back of the farmers of Punjab. He said that it was unexpected from SAD, who played all its politics in the name farmers. Mr. Jakhar said that if the central government did not procure maize and cotton at MSP, then the farmers of Punjab would be forced to protest at the BJP headquarters. He said that the farmers of the country including Punjab have already decided that they root out the BJP from center in the next general election, scheduled next year.
