हिंदी
– Issue pertaining to delay in paddy procurement till October 11
– CM Channi should tell, why did Punjab’s procurement agencies disappear from the mandis?: Bhagwant Mann
– Allegation: Farmers forced to sell paddy at Rs 1,500-1,600 per quintal despite Rs 1,940 MSP guarantee
Sangrur, October 2 2021
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab president and Member of Parliament Bhagwant Mann strongly objected to the sudden ban imposed by the Narendra Modi-led central government on the procurement of paddy from Punjab till October 11, calling it an unprincipled move in the spirit of revenge. Mann alleged, “The Union government has taken Punjab as taurine for food supply and is now leaving it unclaimed. As a result, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has immediately withdrawn from purchasing paddy from the state. This is the path the Punjab government has taken. In the battle for the chair, the farmers have been harried in the mandis. The Punjab Government and its procurement agencies are missing from the mandis.”
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Addressing a press conference at his office here on Saturday, Bhagwant Mann said due to non-procurement of paddy in Punjab mandis, the farmers were being forced to sell paddy at Rs 1,500 to 1,600 per quintal; however the central government has fixed the MSP for paddy at Rs 1,940. Because 90% of the farmers in Punjab cannot keep their crop in the store and they have to sell the crop, he added.
Bhagwant Mann said, “On the one hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promises to double the income of the farmers, but on the other hand, is refusing to buy paddy from them. This proves that the Modi government is harassing the farmers out of revenge.” He said that Punjab was exporting 90 percent of its rice out of the state at the cost of water and soil; so that the people of the country could get food. Mann said that Punjab spends 3,800 liters of water to produce 1 kg of rice, due to which Punjab has run out of water and the climate on land has become polluted.
The AAP leader further said that the orders to bring the documents of land at the time of sale of the crop have further aggravated the problems of the farmers and the migrant farmers. Mann said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running the government in a dictatorial manner and is adding insult to the injury of the farmers. He demanded from the Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi that a session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha should be convened immediately against the unscrupulous orders of the Modi government.
“The Channi government is requested to fight later to save the chair or the presidency and make arrangements for immediate procurement of paddy crop by stopping rounds of the Delhi Darbar,” said Bhagwant Mann. He questioned why the procurement agencies of the Punjab government were not procuring paddy. Why Punjab agencies have also fled the mandis? It is clear that in the battle for the chair, the Punjab government could not complete the procurement arrangements, he asserted.
Mann also alleged that under the present Congress government, paddy was being imported from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states and sold in Punjab; due to which Punjab is suffering a lot as more paddy than the total yield of Punjab is sold in the mandis. Lashing out at the Congress government, Bhagwant Mann said, “Ali Baba has been changed, but the rest of the thieves are the same. Most tainted ministers Rana Gurjit Singh and Bharat Bhushan Ashu are still in the government.” He questioned why the Congress government was not talking about Ghar-Ghar Rozgar and waiver of farmers’ loans. Mann demanded from the Union Government and the Punjab Government to start the procurement of paddy immediately or else the Aam Aadmi Party would wage a struggle from the streets to Parliament.
