New Delhi, September 3
Punjab farmers today expressed their opposition to the Centre’s move to decentralise the foodgrain procurement by involving state governments.
“The Centre is planning to run away from support to the farmers by putting the duty of foodgrain procurement on the states. If it so happens, then farmers would be left to the mercy of traders for wholesale exploitation,” Mr Balbir Singh Rajewal, the All-India General Secretary of the Bharti Kisan Union told The Tribune.
He said the government should not leave the farmers at the mercy of the states and traders. The policy of support in procurement of foodgrains should continue.
The farmers from Punjab today demonstrated in the Capital and submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister highlighting their problems.
Recalling the times of scarcity and the Centre’s slogan of “produce or perish”, he said the government is
changing its stand as Punjab, the grain bowl of India, has not only made country self-sufficient but also surplus in foodgrains.Mr Balbir Singh said the
minimum support price should be on a scientific basis and linked to the wholesale price index of 1966-67 as the base year. “Based on this index, the MSP for the coarse variety will be Rs 720 per quintal,” he said.
During the last procurement season, the government had fixed the MSP for paddy at Rs 510 per quintal for common variety and Rs 540 per quintal for Grade A.
The Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices has suggested an increase of Rs 10 per quintal to the MSP for the coming procurement season. Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Om Prakash Chautala and Chandrababu Naidu recently met the Prime Minister and demanded an increase of Rs 50 per quintal in the MSP.
The Centre finds itself in a piquent situation as the godowns of the FCI are flooded with foodgrains.
The Finance Ministry is also facing a serious problem as it has to set aside an additional amount of Rs 30,000 crore for foodgrain storage alone. The FCI would have to bear a carrying cost of Rs 2,200 per tonne per year for these stocks. Along with this, the food subsidy bill has gone up by at least Rs 600 crore this year.
The FCI has 327.06 lakh tonnes of foodgrains and of this 1.82 lakh tonnes of foodgrains have been damaged. Stocks containing damaged foodgrains above 5 per cent are treated as non-issuable stocks unfit for human consumption. The total cost of damaged foodgrains at today’s cost is Rs 150.23 crore.
Mr Balbir Singh said the sugar mills in Punjab have not paid the arrears for the sugarcane purchased during last year and the government has not announced the procurement price of sugarcane for this season.
Stating that cotton producers have been affected by the attack of ballworms on their crops, he said the government should come out with a comprehensive package for the cotton producers. The per acre productivity in Punjab has come down considerably over the years and the land holding per farmer has also depleted resulting in unemployment to several youths.
