M A I N   N E W S

Centre to lift three lakh quintal sugar every month
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 3
Even as the Centre has agreed to lift 3 lakh quintals of sugar worth Rs 40 crore this month from Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has served an “ultimatum” of two weeks to clear the rest of the Rs 500 crore stock.

Talking to reporters at Rajasansi airport here today, he said the state government would block the sugar stock to be brought from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh after the deadline if the Centre failed to lift the sugar stock from the state.

According to sources, pressure tactics of the Chief Minister had led to the Centre’s approval for the lifting of 3 lakh quintals of sugar every month. At this rate it would take more than a year to clear the entire stock.

Describing the agitation of farmers as unjustified, Capt Amarinder Singh said they were aware of the fact that the state government could not fulfil any of their demands due to the model code of conduct for elections. He ruled out the possibility of judicial inquiry into the firing at Mananwala railway station in which one farmer was killed, as demanded by Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

The Chief Minister described the offer of Rs 30 crore by the NDA government to Punjab farmers as misleading as it was meant to benefit certain private houses only.

The Congress leader refused to support the widow of the late Gurcharan Singh Tohra to become a Rajya Sabha member.