Chandigarh, Oct. 16 -- Former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday blamed the BJP government for farmers' "losses", alleging delays in paddy and bajra procurement and the failure to ensure timely lifting of purchased crops from mandis.
Hooda said two days of rain had submerged lakhs of metric tonnes of paddy in mandis across the state, causing heavy losses to farmers and commission agents. He demanded compensation and a bonus for affected farmers, along with fulfilment of the government's promise to procure paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal.
He said his visits to several mandis revealed widespread dissatisfaction over procurement arrangements, with farmers facing problems involving gate passes, verification, procurement limits, traffic jams and long waiting periods.
Hooda also alleged discrepancies in moisture-testing machines, claiming that the same batch of produce recorded different moisture levels on three machines. He accused the government of deliberately delaying procurement at the minimum support price (MSP).
According to Hooda, farmers were being forced to sell paddy at Rs 400 per quintal below MSP and bajra at Rs 800-900 per quintal below MSP, resulting in substantial financial losses.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.