Tribune News ServiceNew Delhi, June 21
The government today agreed not to merge the two grades of paddy. It would benefit the farmers in getting the right price for their produce. The Centre also assured the farmers of Punjab and Haryana that their interests would be protected on the minimum support price issue.
This was decided after Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala and Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal, met Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Shanta Kumar here today. “More than 90 per cent of the paddy produced in the two states is of superior quality so the government should not merge the two qualities of paddy,” Mr Badal told a group of select reporters.
He said the Union Minister agreed to the suggestion and has issued necessary instructions in this regard.
The Haryana Chief Minister
urged Mr Shanta Kumar to accelerate the movement of foodgrains in the state so that there could be no problems at the time of procurement next year.
The two Chief Ministers discussed the need to increase storage facilities in the state and adequate availability of gunny bags with the procurement centres.
Mr Chautala urged the Union Minister to extend the “food for work programme” to Haryana for the best utilisation of excess foodgrain stocks on the one hand and the creation of rural assets on the other.
Mr Shanta Kumar assured that effective steps would be taken for faster movement of foodgrains in Haryana and Punjab. He also approved the proposal of the Haryana government for increasing the guarantee cover for private storage capacity by additional three lakh tonnes of foodgrains.
The two chief ministers met Union Agriculture Minister, Nitish Kumar and urged him to review the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.
The commission has recommended an increase of Rs 10 in the MSP, which the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana said was against the interests of the farmers.
Mr Nitish Kumar assured them that the interest of paddy growers in the state would be protected while taking a final decision in this regard.
The Union Agriculture Minister also assured Mr Badal that schemes for grape growers in the state would be developed in the lines of integrated development programme.
The Punjab Chief Minister also met the Union Civil Aviation Minister Mr Sharad Yadav, and discussed with him need to expedite work on the Ram Dass international airport at Amritsar.
Mr Badal, who is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the airport next month, was today assured by the Union Minister that all steps to expedite the work, would be taken soon.
Earlier, the Punjab Chief Minister met the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, who has returned to the capital after successful knee-operation, and handed over a cheque of Rs 3.90 crore to the PM’s Relief Fund for the victims of Gujarat earthquake. He also handed over a cheque of Rs 1.9 crore collected by NGOs for the quake victims.
