हिंदी
(SAD President gets moisture content of a trolley load of paddy checked by FCI officials in front of its office to show moisture content of Punjab paddy is within permissible limits)
Chandigarh, October 1 2021
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the Congress government had got procurement of paddy postponed by ten days in Punjab to hide its failure in making the required arrangements for procurement of the crop.
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The SAD President today accompanied a trolley filled with paddy to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) head office here to get the moisture content of the food grain checked. The same was done in the presence of a Deputy General Manager level officer and was recorded at 12.9 percent against the allowed moisture content of 17 per cent.
Talking to newsmen in front of the FCI office, Mr Sukhbir Badal said the ten day postponement in paddy procurement, which was supposed to have started today, was unprecedented. “This will spell doom for the State’s economy. Farmers had planned in advance and had started harvesting their crop since the last few days. Paddy had also reached ‘mandis’ in the State. Postponing procurement will not only result in harassment of farmers but will also jeopardize the paddy crop in case of inclement weather”. He said keeping these facts into consideration the State government should start procurement of paddy through its agencies immediately and ensure farmers do not suffer due to any delay affected due to the central government directive.
Terming the entire issue as a conspiracy hatched by the Punjab government, Mr Badal said “the Congress party has been busy in an internal fight since the last fortnight. First the leaders fought among themselves for the top post of chief minister. Then there were days of lobbying for various ministries besides even the drama of resignation by the PCC chief. It is due to this that the required arrangements were not made to procure paddy. At present the State does not have the required gunny bags at its disposal. Labour and even transport tenders have not been finalized till now”. Mr Badal asked chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi to get his act together and ensure farmers of Punjab did not suffer due to the State government’s lack of preparedness.
Earlier Mr Badal also met FCI officials at its office here and impressed upon them to submit a report to the union government clearly stating that paddy in Punjab was fit for procurement and that there was no issue of high moisture content in the paddy crop in the State. He said in case the union government did not withdraw its decision and did not start procurement immediately the SAD would be constrained to launch an agitation to ensure justice was done to the State farmers.
Former minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema also accompanied the SAD President.
