Randeep Singh Surjewala pointed out that the state government’s latest order said that “the crop procurement will not take place for a day on April 29 at the procurement centres in the state.” (File Photo)
The Congress on Tuesday hit out at Haryana’s BJP-JJP government for “amending its procurement policies for the record six times in a short span of nine days”, claiming that the daily changes had brought state’s “wheat procurement system to the brink of ruin”.
“They have made six U-turns in a period of nine days which reflects the anti-farmer mindset as also a designed conspiracy not to procure wheat crop at the minimum support price of Rs 1,925 per quintal,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters via video-conferencing.
He pointed out that the state government’s latest order said that “the crop procurement will not take place for a day on April 29 at the procurement centres in the state”. An official said the wheat procurement has been postponed for a day because of lifting problems.
Surjewala alleged: “Their intent seems to harass the farmers as also the commission agents and the labourers so much that at the end of the day, the farmer is constrained to sell the wheat crop under distressful conditions at prices much lower than the MSP. What else explains that in nine days, they have to change their stance on six different occasions?”
Haryana Congress president Kumari Selja said the government had promised to pay farmers’ for their crop within 24 hours. “Seven days have passed since the beginning of the wheat procurement, but no payment has been made to the farmers or the arhtiyas.”
She added, “Procurement of crop till June was a conspiracy of the government to delay payment to farmers. Earlier, it was talking about giving bonus/providing holding charges on the MSP. In May, a bonus of Rs 50 was said to be given on purchase of one quintal. Similarly, a bonus of Rs 125 per quintal was to be given on crop purchased from June 1 to 30. But now the Haryana government is turning its back…”