Harsimrat Kaur slams Centre for not granting MSP on crops as per Swaminathan report

New Delhi: Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Friday slammed the Union government for not implementing the M.S. Swaminathan Committee's report on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

She also demanded reopening the Wagah border for international trade, giving concessions to the cycles and sports industry, and releasing the Rural Development Fund and Sarv Siksha Abhiyan dues to Punjab.

Speaking during the discussion on the Union Budget, the Bathinda MP also called for righting the historical wrongs done to Punjab by giving it compensation for the grant of eight MAF (million acre-feet) water to Rajasthan as well as ensuring the transfer of Chandigarh to the state.

Asserting that the "Sarkar Bachao budget" 2024 had discriminated against the farmers, poor, women and the youth, Harsimrat Badal said: "This budget has only tried to serve the two alliance partner states of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar which received the lion’s share of funds along with BJP-ruled states even as all other states had been given a step-motherly treatment."

She said it was shocking that even natural calamities like floods and religious circuits had not been spared from bias. "Religious circuits and temples have received special grants but Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, where two lakh lakh devotees from across the globe visit every day, has not been given any grant under the religious tourism head.” She said similarly the pick-and-choose policy had been implemented in the case of natural calamities as well. "Himachal has received flood relief but Punjab, which is flooded when gates of dams in Himachal are thrown open, has been forgotten."

Asking if the Centre had any enmity with Punjab, Harsimrat Badal said that "when there are floods, Punjab suffers but when there is water shortage, all parties, including the Congress, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demand the SYL canal be constructed to rob Punjab of its river waters".