M A I N   N E W S

How Vajpayee bailed out Badal
From T.R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 16 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee bailed out Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from an impending political crisis by directing Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Union Public Distribution Minister Shanta Kumar to accommodate the Shiromani Akali Dal.

Considering the unbudging attitude of Mr Shanta Kumar, a worried Mr Badal arrived here on Saturday evening and telephoned Mr Vajpayee at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai pleading for an appointment at the earliest. Sensing that the Chief Minister was at his tether’s end, running from pillar to post for the direly needed Central relief for the farmers of Punjab, Mr Vajpayee urged Mr Badal to explain his problem on the telephone itself rather than rushing to Mumbai. Grasping the gravity of the situation for Mr Badal, the Prime Minister assured him that he would intervene and have the matter sorted out expeditiously.

Subsequently, Mr Badal met Union Home Minister L. K. Advani and briefed him about the explosive situation in Punjab because of the sad plight of the farmers. Mr Vajpayee had already spoken to Mr Advani, urging him to use his good offices and sort out Punjab’s problem.

With Mr Advani holding fort at the Centre in Mr Vajpayee’s absence as the Prime Minister is convalescing in Mumbai after his knee replacement surgery, the Home Minister summoned Mr Sinha and Mr Shanta Kumar on Sunday and asked them to resolve Punjab’s problem to the satisfaction of Mr Badal. Caught in a cleft situation, a desperate Mr Badal used his trump card of seeking Mr Vajpayee’s intervention as a last resort. Mr Vajpayee was more than forthcoming as Mr Badal and his SAD had unwaveringly stood with the BJP despite the carrots being dangled by the National Front government headed by Mr H. D. Deve Gowda.

In a way, the Prime Minister repayed a debt that the BJP owed Mr Badal in particular. Sources said though Mr Sinha was sympathetic in his approach towards Punjab, Mr Shanta Kumar, however, has been adopting a tough stand in relaxing the norms for purchasing the foodgrains. It was apparent that Mr Kumar was seeking political mileage for the BJP in Punjab. Ultimately, he had to toe the line handed down by Mr Vajpayee. The BJP ministers in Mr Badal’s coalition government backed the Chief Minister and came rushing to Delhi to impress upon the party’s central leadership that protecting the farmer’s cause is a do or die battle for them.

To clinch and sow up matters on Sunday itself without further loss of time as agitated farmers in Punjab had resorted to rail roko and chakka jams, Mr Badal dispatched the state government helicopter to ferry Mr Shanta Kumar from Palampur to the national capital. After the deed was done and the Centre agreed to provide a Rs 350-crore relief package for Punjab, Mr Kumar returned to Palampur in the same state government helicopter.

A relieved Mr Badal flew to Chandigarh last evening aboard a scheduled flight. Authoritative sources said Mr Badal apprised Mr Vajpayee of the serious political repercussions for his coalition government if the farmers, the main constituents of the SAD, are left to fend for themselves.

He also impressed upon the Prime Minister that a permanent solution had to be found for this recurring problem on the agriculture front. In the worst case scenario, the SAD actively considered withdrawing its minister from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government. Mr Badal also succeeded in ensuring that those farmers who had undertaken distress sales will be compensated from a corpus of Rs 100 crore to be shared equally by the Centre and Punjab.

‘Seal paddy auction records’
By Sarbjit Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 16 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has directed the Punjab Mandi Board to seal the records pertaining to the auction of paddy from September 21 to October 14 at market committees in the state. This order has been issued to prevent any tampering with records with regard to the distress sale of paddy.

Farmers eligible for compensation due to the distress sale of their paddy, will be identified on the basis of the auction records maintained by the market committees. The government has decided to give Rs 100 crore to compensate those farmers who had to sell their paddy below the minimum support price. Of this amount, Rs 50 crore will be contributed by the Union Government.

A senior official of the state government said a committee headed by the Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Mann, had been set up to frame the modalities for giving the compensation. It is not yet known whether this will be routed through the procurement agencies or the Revenue Department. The Union Government has told the state government to ensure that the compensation reaches the farmers and is not siphoned off midway by officials assigned the task of disbursement.

A top official of the state government said the auction recorders of the market committees had the complete records of the distress sale. From these records, the government would be able to find out exactly how much paddy was procured by millers and traders at prices below the MSP.

As per the records available with the state Food and Supplies Department, about 15 lakh tonnes of paddy was procured by millers and traders till October 13. On October 12 Mr Badal had issued instructions to all market committees that private millers and traders should be allowed to buy paddy at prices below the MSP. The instructions were enforced on October 13.

According to information available from the department, the total distress sale of paddy involved Rs 136 crore from September 21, the day procurement officially started in the state, till October 13, the day the state government stopped the distress sale by issuing orders in this connection.

Mr Phulwant Singh Sidhu, Secretary of the Punjab Mandi Board, told TNS that he had summoned all records up to October 14 to the head office of the board here to avoid any changes in these at the field level. He said the board would be able to provide a list of the farmers whose paddy was procured at prices below the MSP to the state government.

Mr Sidhu said the field staff, who had been told to send the entire records of the paddy auction up to October 14, had also been asked to maintain separate records of the paddy sold after this date.

Meanwhile, the president of the Punjab unit of the BJP, Mr Brij Lal Rinwa, has thanked the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, and the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Mr Shanta Kumar, for extending a helping hand to the farmers when they were facing a crisis. He has requested the farmers not be misled by certain vested political interests and to leave the path of agitation.

The Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal headed by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra said the Union Government had conceded the demands of the farmers because of the unity shown by the farming community.

Now Haryana demands relief package
From Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

PALAMPUR, Oct 16 — Haryana’s having been left high and dry by the Centre in doling out special relief package for paddy growers as has been done in Punjab, today sent a team of senior ministers to Palampur to plead its case before the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Mr Shanta Kumar.

The Haryana, Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, who is at presently in Seoul in Korea, deputed a special team to Palampur to plead the case of his state which had been discriminated against in giving further relief to the paddy growers by the Centre. The Minister for Town and Country Planning, Housing and Revenue, Mr Dhir Pal and the Minister for Local Bodies, Mr Subhash Goel, accompanied by senior officials had a meeting with Mr Shanta Kumar here today.

Mr Shanta Kumar said after his return to Delhi tomorrow the issue of extending similar package to Haryana would be discussed as it was faced with a similar problem as Punjab. “I assure that the genuine problem of any state would be considered sympathetically by my ministry,” he stated. When asked that had Punjab not been given special treatment as compared to its neighbour, Haryana, he said it was a tradition in our country that those who mounted pressure generally get what they wanted.

While admitting that Haryana too was faced with similar climatic conditions and blight problem as in Punjab, Mr Shanta Kumar said a decision would be taken tomorrow without any further delay as farmers in Haryana too had suffered. He informed that out of the nine lakh tonnes of paddy brought to the mandis five lakh had been procured. It was being expected that the total procurement would be about 20 lakh tonnes. He said after holding talks with the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, Haryana’s problem would be sorted out.

With the Haryana Chief Minister holding the Department of Food and Supplies himself he had a telephonic conversation with Mr Shanta Kumar over the issue. The ministers from Haryana said the paddy growers of the state had been equally affected but it was due to the efforts of the government that the law and order situation had remained under the control. They added that the distress sale of paddy and exploitation of farmers was being done in their state also.

Mr Shanta Kumar said he felt that agriculture like any other industry should be given special concessions and facility as it was the livelihood of majority of Indians. “My compulsion is that I am bound by the limit set by the Cabinet although the genuine demand of any state should be accepted at the right time,” he observed.

In reply to a query whether the NDA government was following a policy of appeasement he said it was a government constituted by a number of alliance partners and at times the justified demands had to be accepted by making compromises.