SAD demands wheat procurement start from April 1

(SAD delegation to meet Governor on these issues very soon)

Party will also hold protests in all constituencies on April 5 

 Chandigarh, March 27 – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today condemned the Congress government for delaying the wheat procurement season by ten days to April 10 and demanded that it start from April one. It also castigated the Congress government for playing a fixed match with the centre to teach a lesson to the protesting farmers of the State by  not protesting in time against the deliberate tightening of specifications for procurement of food grains by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Addressing a press conference here, senior SAD leaders Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said the very fact that the Punjab government had delayed the procurement season was proof that it was playing into the hands of the central government. “Delay in the procurement season will cause hardship to farmers who will have to stock their harvested crop in the fields for ten days besides leading to the extension of the procurement season and late sowing of the forthcoming paddy crop”.

Prof Chandumajra and Dr Cheema said as per the decision of the party core committee meeting held under the presidentship of Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal last night, the SAD would take up this issue with Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore on March 30 and demand that procurement of wheat be started from April 1. “We will also bring to the Governor’s attention that the Congress government has compromised the interests of the State by presiding over a huge paddy procurement scam under which paddy purchased at Rs 800 per quintal from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh was brought to Punjab and purchased at Rs 1900 per quintal. This is the reason why against a likely purchase of 164 lakh tonne, the actual paddy purchased in the last season was 218 lakh tonnes. While Congress legislators and ministers minted crores, the farmers of Punjab will have to suffer now because there is no space to keep the coming wheat crop”. The SAD legislators said they would demand a high level independent probe into the entire scam.

The leaders also highlighted how the Congress government was in slumber with the chief minister only now “thinking” to write a letter to the Prime Minister on the unrealistic tightening of specifications for purchase of wheat vis a vis the moisture content and shriveled grain count. “It is clear that the central government is trying to renege on payment for food grains on msp and the State government is becoming a tool in fulfilling this nefarious agenda”. They also disclosed that the centre was dominating the State government to such an extent that the Congress government had not even forcefully asked for Rs 800 crore remittances due to it on account of the Rural Development Fund (RDF).

Prof Chandumajra and Dr Cheema also announced that the SAD would hold constituency level protests on April 5 to expose the treachery of both AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal and its Punjab unit head Bhagwant Mann who sold off the interests of farmers by giving their assent to the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2021. They said the treachery was exposed when it came to light that Bhagwant Mann attended the meeting of the Standing Committee on food and consumer affairs which discussed the implementation of the amended Act. “Bhagwant Mann has tried to befool Punjabis by releasing an audio tape of him speaking about the rise in prices of essential commodities but has not come clean and told if he submitted a dissent note to the committee when it took up the issue of recommending implementation of the new Essential Commodities Act”.

The leaders said as per the report of the Standing Committee, from which they also quoted, Bhagwant Mann gave his assent to the recommendation of the Committee that the new Act be implemented without any amendment or modification. “This proves the double face of the AAP party also. Earlier AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal also gave his assent to implementation of the three Agricultural laws in Delhi but did a big ‘tamasha’ of being against them in his rally in Baghapurana”, the leaders added