State govt. has not paid incentive to red gram growers: Priyank Kharge

Red gram growers in the region have to sell their crop at the minimum support price of ₹6,000 per quintal fixed by the Centre, as the State government has refrained from paying incentives for red gram this year, Priyank Kharge, MLA, has said and accused the State government of neglecting the farmers of Kalyana Karnataka.

During the previous kharif season, the Centre has announced an MSP of ₹5,800 per quintal for red gram and the State government had fixed an incentive of ₹300 on each quintal. This year, the farmers are forced to sell their crop at ₹6,000 (MSP) as the State government had failed to fix any incentive, he said.

The farmers benefited from the incentives continuously during the Congress-led government in State. In 2016-17, the red gram growers got an incentive of ₹450 per quintal in 2016-17; it was ₹550 per quintal during 2017-18, and farmers received an incentive of ₹425 per quintal during 2018-19.

In 2019-20, the State government procured 13.01 lakh quintals of red gram worth ₹793.86 crore from 1,27,468 farmers.

Of the total ₹793.86 crore, Mr. Kharge alleged that the State government has cleared dues of ₹590.09 crore to 1,03, 408 farmers. He expressed doubt whether the remaining 24,060 farmers got their amount for the red gram procured.

Mr. Kharge demanded that the State government announce an incentive for red gram immediately and indicated that the farmers would intensify their agitation if the government failed to respond.