Punjab CM flays NDA for ignoring state in MSP panel

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Chandigarh, July 20

Ignoring stiff resistance by farmers of Punjab, the Union government has chosen to keep away representatives of the state in the committee for recommending Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here today.

Legal right of Punjabi farmers

It is the need of hour to include Punjabi farmers in the committee so that their interests can be safeguarded. It is their legal right. Due to the ever-increasing input costs and low returns, the farmers of state are already reeling under huge debts. Bhagwant Mann, Chief Minister, Punjab

In a statement issued today, the CM said the BJP-led NDA government had not done justice with the food growers of the country in general and that of Punjab in particular by including only “armchair economists”, who spoke the language of the government in the committee. “The dictatorial attitude is unacceptable and unwarranted,” he said.

To bail out farmers from the agrarian crisis, Mann said the MSP needs to be fixed after due consultation with Punjabi farmers.

Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) president and former Union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa also criticised the Centre for excluding Punjab from the committee formed on the MSP. Dhindsa demanded Punjab’s representation in the committee.

Vikramjit Singh Sahney, MP from Punjab, also requested Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to include representatives of the Punjab Government and some agricultural experts from Punjab Agriculture University in the committee constituted to make MSP more effective and transparent.

via Punjabi Media