Farmers not getting MSP on paddy in Haryana, says Hooda

Chandigarh : Congress leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday said depriving farmers of crop loss compensation and the minimum support price (MSP) was the policy of the BJP-JJP coalition government.

He said the government procurement was deliberately started with delay so that farmers could not get the MSP. However, the government said 8.06 lakh metric tonnes (MT) paddy and 1.14 lakh MT millet were procured across the state till Tuesday and the procurement is underway smoothly.

Contrary to this, Hooda said no arrangement has been made by the government even for the lifting the purchased crop. "The markets are flooded with paddy and millets and lakhs of quintals of the crop is yet to arrive. But from now onwards, the arrival has been stopped and farmers have to go wait for long hours and even days to sell the produce," he said.

Hooda said the Congress has repeatedly demanded the government start procurement soon, improve the arrangements in the mandis, and bring promptness in procurement and payment but the government remained asleep and handed over the farmers to private agencies. Reiterating his demand, Hooda said the MSP is the right of the farmer and every farmer's crop should be purchased at MSP.

Meanwhile, according to the government, total payment of Rs 690 crore has been disbursed directly into accounts of over 32,000 farmers for their crop purchases through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system. In a farmer-centric move to accommodate the early arrival of Kharif crops, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar took the decision to commence procurement in September, ahead of the traditional October 1, said the government in a statement. Haryana has thereby become the first state to initiate the procurement of Kharif crops earlier than usual, it added.