Sukhbir Badal urges PM to intervene, ensure cotton procured at MSP

BATHINDA: SAD president Sukhbir Badal has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and ensure that cotton was procured at minimum support price (MSP) in Punjab. He said farmers were being exploited by private players as Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) was not procuring cotton in the state.
Sukhbir on Saturday visited the cotton market yard in Fazilka and alleged that CCI had deliberately delayed entry into the market due to which farmers were forced to sell crop at around Rs 4,800 per quintal to private players against MSP of Rs 5,725 per quintal. He assured the farmers that SAD would launch an agitation to force the CCI to procure cotton at MSP. The party workers would agitate in front of CCI office as well as visit mandis to force the government agency to procure cotton at MSP on Monday, he said.
The SAD leader asked the PM to intervene into the matter, saying nearly 1.25 lakh quintals of cotton had arrived in the Punjab mandis but CCI had purchased only 12,000 quintals.
“Farmers are forced to go in for distress sale as they can neither transport their produce long distances nor store it. SAD demands purchase to be made on MSP and government procurement would not be below MSP,” he said.