(Visits Jalalabad Mandis, farmers complain paddy not being lifted even as they are not getting payments)
(Says against claim of 56 lakh metric tonnes wheat being procured, only 23 lakh metrics tonnes had been lifted)
Fazilka/Ferozepur, April 28( Wishavwarta) – Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal has asked chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to to take immediate steps to fast track wheat procurement, saying procurement had been severely affected across the State because food grains were not being lifted.
The SAD President, who visited the Jalalabad grain market in Fazilka, said right now there was complete chaos and if something was not done immediately the situation could spiral out of control. He said almost all Mandis were clogged because wheat was not being lifted in the absence of gunny bags. “Due to this the government has stopped issuing e -passes to farmers who have to now bear increased labour charges of storing their wheat in their premises before reloading it again to transport to the Mandis”.
Mr Sukhbir Badal said farmers were complaining that procurement had also come to a virtual halt with procurement agencies rejecting wheat even if it had slight moisture content. Asking the chief minister to take up the issue with FCI, he said the CM should also direct State procurement agencies not to harass farmers and relax moisture norms immediately. He also brought it to the notice of the chief minister that farmers had been paid only once since the start of procurement. He said this was in direct contrast to government promises to give payment to farmers within 24 hours.
Stating that this state of affairs was because of total mismanagement, Mr Badal said it was one thing to make tall promises and quite another to implement them. “It is clear that all the announcements made in Chandigarh have not been implemented on the ground. I am getting similar reports of Mandis being clogged across the State. The government needs to act quickly and speed up procurement because inclement weather could lead to more losses”. He also asked the government to give the real figures to the people. He said a claim was being made of 56 metric tonnes of wheat being procured, but only 23 lakh metric tonnes had been lifted. He said similarly only 30 per cent of the payment due to farmers had been released to them.
Mr Badal said farmers had also shared with him that wheat yield had gone down and that they had to spend more on labour this harvesting season. He asked the chief minister to announce a bonus on wheat MSP to held farmers tide over this difficult time.
Meanwhile the SAD President also asked the Punjab government to plan ahead for paddy. He said Punjab was set to face an acute shortage of labour and that the government should come out with a plan to bring migrant labour back to the State by June 15. He said paddy transplanting machines should also be subsidised and that the same should be bought by cooperative societies also so that farmers could have access to them during the forthcoming paddy transplantation season.