Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Wednesday accused the Centre of step-motherly treatment to wheat farmers of Punjab by not announcing relaxation in wheat procurement norms despite extensive damage to crop due to recent rain and hailstorm. Noting that distressed farmers were facing problems in selling their crop in mandis, the farmer’s union expressed its displeasure over no visit to rain-hit farmers by any central team to take stock of crop damage in the state.
“Centre has been neglectful in case of Punjab as no relaxation has been given in wheat procurement norms when such relaxations were given in Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan,” BKU (lakhowal) president Ajmer Singh lakhowal said. “We will not accept any step-motherly treatment meted out to farmers of Punjab,” he said, adding that Punjab Government had sent its report relating to damage to wheat crops due of rains and hailstorm to the Centre, but so far, no action has been taken.
The Centre had, a day before, relaxed wheat procurement norms for Haryana in “lustre loss” and “shrivelled and broken grains”. “It is hurtful that the Centre had sent teams to assess crop damage in other States but none was sent to Punjab, it is not acceptable,” said lakhowal, who is also chairman of State-owned Punjab Mandi Board. He said that Punjab farmers had been facing problems in selling their wheat crop as moisture content was in excess of permissible limit of 12 per cent.