Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab cannot afford to procure entire farm produce at MSP: Bharat Bhushan Ashu

CHANDIGARH: As the Centre’s new farm laws continue to generate political heat, Punjab food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu has rejected the demand of opposition parties that the state should commit itself to buying any leftover stocks of wheat and paddy at the minimum support price (MSP). “Even for the public distribution system (PDS), Punjab only needs a little over 8 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of foodgrain but the state produces 130 LMT of wheat every season. Punjab produces a lot more surplus that is contributed to the national food basket. Even if the Punjab government were to start purchasing outside the PDS, Akali Dal very well knows that to procure wheat and paddy produce, the state will need Rs 60,000 crore. Given the annual revenue collections of the state, there will be no funds for any other financial commitment,” he told TOI. On the demand of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) that the entire state should be declared a principal market yard, Ashu said that option was already available with the Punjab Mandi Board under the existing laws. “There is no need for a new Act to do that. We have 1,872 purchase centers for wheat procurement but to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, the state notified 4,400 markets for staggered procurement. However, to declare the entire state as the principal market yard would mean that all traders will have to pay market fee and rural development charge on transactions. So, these are just political statements to mislead people. If the situation does arise, the state can easily notify principal mandi yard,” he said. After supporting the Congress government’s four Bills to blunt the Centre’s farm laws in the Vidhan Sabha, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) later demanded that the state government should commit itself to purchasing crops of Punjab farmers on MSP if the central purchase agencies decide to withdraw from the present system. Besides, the Congress should have talked about other crops apart from wheat and paddy and the government should bring a bill on MSP and guarantee purchase of every grain, demanded AAP MLAs. Reacting to this, Ashu said, “These are all hypothetical things. If the Food Corporation of India (FCI) decides to stop procurement then the issue will be dealt with at that stage. As of now, the issue that Punjab’s farmers are worried about is the possibility of creation of private mandis and that the private players may indulge in hoarding and farmers not fulfilling the contracts may lose their land. The state’s Bills now propose to ensure that there will be no purchase below the MSP and the interests of farmers under the APMC Act will be protected. The rival parties don’t know what the real issue is.”

The Times of India

2020-10-26

Chandigarh