Swaraj Party president Yogendra Yadav. (EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA)
Alleging very low procurement of bajra in the mandis of Mewat area in Nuh district, Swaraj Party president Yogendra Yadav sat on a dharna at grain market of Taoru (Nuh) on Monday.
Yadav lifted the dharna after seven hours only when senior administrative officers reached the venue and assured they would speed up the procurement apart from making it hassle free for the farmers.
Yadav has launched an agitation in Haryana demanding purchase of bajra at the rate of Rs 1950 which has been declared as Minimum Support Price for the crop.
After visiting mandis of six districts; Gurgaon, Mewat, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Dadri and Bhiwani, Yadav said, “The government agencies are not procuring bajra on one or the other pretext in the mandis of Nuh district. Today local officials at Taoru told me that that just 55 per cent of the total bajra procured has been procured by purchased government agencies while in other districts about 85-90 per cent of the total procured bajra was purchased by the government agencies there. The government agencies are procuring at the rate of Rs 1950 per quintal while the private players buy bajra just at the rate of Rs 1250 or Rs 1300 per quintal.”
Haryana Food and Supplies Department Director Sanjeev Verma claimed that every grain of bajra would be procured adding that 1294 metric tonnes (MT) bajra has been procured in Nuh district till Monday.