Lamenting that the restrictions on the export of basmati imposed by the Union government is against the interests of the farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday demanded immediate rollback of what he called an "arbitrary decision".
Addressing the gathering during Kisan Mela organised at the Punjab Agriculture University, Mann bemoaned that this illogical decision will do considerable damage to the economic situation of the farmers as well as the traders. He said that the Union government has fixed Minimum Export Price of the Basmati at 1200 dollars per ton which adversely hit the domestic price of the crop. He said that the union government must remove all these restrictions to safeguard the interests of the farmers from the state.
The CM said that the hard working and resilient farmers of the state are already at a crossroads due to the ever escalating cost of the farm inputs and low MSP, adding that the state produces maximum basmati in the country and this decision of the Centre will adversely hit the interests of the peasants of the state. Mann said that on one hand the state government is making concerted efforts for crop diversification by encouraging the farmers to produce Moong, Basmati and other alternative crops but on the other these dastardly steps of the Union government are giving major setbacks to it.
Mann said that this decision of the Union government is anti-farmer and anti-state adding that the state government will vehemently oppose this move. He said that in wake of these restrictions the state government is contemplating to sell the basmati crop to states like Kerala, West Bengal and others. He said that the farmers of the state had played a vanguard role in making the country self-reliant in food production but such draconian moves of the Union government is against their interests.
The CM also slammed the Union government for stalling Rural Development Fund (RDF) to target its opponents. He said that despite the fact that the state government has removed all the ambiguities done by the previous governments, the centre has not released the funds yet. Mann said that he had himself called on the Union Rural Development Minister who had assured him that these funds will be released soon but it never happened and the Union government has stalled the RDF of the state worth more than Rs 3622 crore.
The Chief Minister said that in order to cope up with the problem of paddy straw burning the state government had mooted the idea of compensating the farmers by giving them Rs 2500 per acre. He said that out of these Rs 2500, Rs 1500 was to be given by the central government and Rs 1000 was to be shared by the state government. However, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that instead of agreeing to this demand, the Union government rejected it without any logic.