India News | SAD Targets Congress Govt in Punjab over Delay in Paddy Procurement
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday alleged that the Congress government in Punjab had got the procurement of paddy postponed by 10 days to hide its failure in making necessary arrangements.
Chandigarh, Oct 1 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday alleged that the Congress government in Punjab had got the procurement of paddy postponed by 10 days to hide its failure in making necessary arrangements.
Badal said the delay in paddy procurement which was to start on Friday is unprecedented and "will spell doom for the state's economy".
The Centre on Thursday postponed procurement of Kharif paddy in Punjab and Haryana till October 11 as the crop maturity is delayed owing to recent heavy rains. It also said the moisture content in the fresh arrival at present is beyond permissible limit.
Crop procurement is undertaken by the central government's nodal agency Food Corporation of India (FCI) along with state agencies.
Also Read | Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi Meets PM Narendra Modi in Delhi, Discusses Farmers' Issues.
The SAD said in a statement that Badal accompanied a tractor trolley filled with paddy to the FCI office here to get its moisture content checked.
The moisture content of paddy was checked in the presence of a deputy general manager-level officer and was recorded at 12.9 per cent against the permissible limit of 17 per cent, the party claimed.
Badal said, "Farmers had planned in advance and started harvesting their crops in the last few days. Paddy has 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 the state government should start procurement of paddy through its agencies immediately and ensure farmers do not suffer due to any delay following the central government directive.
Terming the entire issue a "conspiracy hatched" by the Punjab government, Badal said, "The Congress party has been busy in an internal fight for a 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 (Pradesh Congress Committee) 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," he alleged.
Badal asked Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to get his act together and ensure farmers of Punjab do not suffer due to the state government's lack of preparedness.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)