Centre ready to hold talks with protesting farmers, says Ravneet Bittu

Tribune Reporters

Sangrur/Patiala, July 28

Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu said the Union Government was ready to meet farmer leaders and hold talks with them. Besides, no one has been stopping the farmers from visiting Delhi as agitating farmer leaders had recently visited Delhi and met the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Parliament Complex some days ago.

Bittu was here today to inspect the ongoing development works being executed under Amrit Bharat Station Project at the Sangrur railway station.

With regard to allotment of funds to Punjab, the minister accused the AAP government of not holding any meeting with the Prime Minister or any other Union Minister before the Budget to get funds. The CM had now boycotted the meeting of the Niti Aayog. Had he attended the meeting, the state’s requirements could have been placed before the aayog, he added.

Regarding withholding of the Rural Development Fund and the NRHM fund by the Centre, he said the state government should go to the Centre to give details about earlier spent funds under these schemes, so that the withheld amount could be released.

Talking about the Ministry of Railways, he said the Centre had earmarked Rs 5,147 crore for Punjab’s railway projects in the Budget.

Later while addressing the media at Patiala, Bittu highlighted the Centre’s extensive procurement efforts and questioned the motive behind the continued blockade by a segment of farmers. “The Central Government is procuring every grain from Punjab, yet a few farmers from the state are protesting and blocking the highway,” Bittu remarked.

Bittu expressed concern on the demands for a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP), stating that such a move could undermine the mandi (market) infrastructure in the state. He said the government spent Rs 4 to 5 lakh crore on crop procurement annually. According to Bittu, if a legal guarantee on MSP was implemented, Punjab’s share of procurement could decrease, adversely affecting the state’s mandi system.

In his address, Bittu also criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab for its policies and actions.