Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that the BJP government is deliberately pushing farmers into losses. He said the government did not start purchasing mustard, despite repeated demands.
“Even at isolated places where government agencies have reached, purchases are being refused on the pretext of moisture. Due to this, private agencies are buying the crops at throwaway prices. Under compulsion, farmers have to sell their crops at a rate Rs 900-1,000 below MSP,” he stated.
Hooda said the arrival of mustard in the markets has been going on since last week, but despite this, the government announced the
purchase late. “The government is not able to purchase even as per its announcement,” he said. “Not only
this, the farmers have once again been handed over to
the ‘Meri Fasal Mera Byora’ portal. A total of 9.25 lakh farmers had registered
crops over 61.45 lakh acres on the portal, but out of this, records of the area of 10.40 lakh acres were found to be mismatched. Unless this complete record is correct, farmers will not be able to sell their crops. This means that farmers will have to bear the brunt of the government’s mistake,” he stated.
Hooda has once again demanded the government to start smooth procurement of mustard soon. Besides, he has also raised the demand to complete all the preparations for the arrival of wheat in advance. Hooda said during the Congress tenure, the government used to start purchasing crops as soon as they reached the market. Due to this, the market rates of crops became high. Therefore, even private agencies had to buy crops at MSP or higher rates. “The BJP government follows exactly the opposite policy. Initially, procurement is not done by the government. Crop prices fall in the market. Private agencies take advantage of this and buy at throwaway prices. By the time government procurement begins, a large number of farmers have sold their crops,” he said.