Haryana Congress on Tuesday accused the State Government led by Manohar lal of doing little to come to the aid of harried and harassed farmers who have suffered huge losses due to crop damage.
Kiran Choudhry, leader of Haryana Congress legislature Party (ClP) said, “Reduced to penury by the Government which has not paid them single penny as compensation for the loss of crops due to the unseasonal rains and hailstorms, some farmers have been driven to commit suicide.”
In a statement issued here, the former Excise and Taxation Minister said that both the BJP Government and State agencies which were refusing to lift the wheat on one flimsy ground or the other, seem to have joined hands to make the lives of farmers miserable. Small wonder, the farmers have begun to rue the decision not to let the Food Corporation of India (FCI) mop up wheat.
Refusal to lift stocks has left the mandis clogged with wheat, leaving little room for fresh arrivals. The scenario is pretty bad in Tosham where the farmers find no space to load their produce, she alleged.
Quoting instances, she said on Monday, the farmers and commission agents locked the gate of the grain market in Jind, alleging cut in the minimum support price (MSP) by the state agencies. Worse still, the farmers are not being paid MSP of Rs1,450 per quintal for whatever little stock is lifted, she alleged.
“It is high time the BJP Government intervenes and pays the farmers compensation of at least Rs25,000 for every acre of damaged crop, she demanded.