CHANDIGARH: Former Haryana chief minister and leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said that the government should stop harassing farmers and improve its systems. Speaking to reporters at his Chandigarh residence, he said the government has failed on all fronts, from the farmer to the corona and its incompetence is exposed before the people.
“Today, there are delays in the entire wheat procurement process, from buying, to lifting of purchased grains and then in the payment to the farmers. The government should stop making hollow claims and recognize the ground reality and improve the systems,” he said.
“The farmer faces indifference and neglect from the government, from the mandis of the state to the Delhi borders where the farmers are protesting for the legitimate demands. The government has turned a blind eye and is pretending that farmers don’t even exist,” he added.
Hooda said that no gunny bags have been arranged by the government which continues to drag its feet on lifting gains from the market. “So far only 22 percent of the crop has been lifted from the market and, as a result, farmers are unable to find a place in the mandi to put wheat,” he pointed out.
“Not only procurement and lifting of wheat, payments to farmers are also delayed. The government had promised to pay within 48 hours but even after 360 hours, or 15 days, farmers have not received payment. Except a few farmers, the rest of the farmers are waiting for payment. The chaos in the mandis has forced the government to completely stop procurement in many mandis. First the government itself announced that farmers can come to sell the crop without waiting for the message, and now when the farmers are reaching to sell the crop, they are being asked to wait for the message,” the former chief minister said, pointing to the total chaos in the procurement system.