Punjab Congress on Sunday flayed the Centre’s decision of fixing new norms about paddy procurement and milling as “anti-farmer” step.
Strongly opposing the Centre’s decision to bring down the paddy moisture content limit from 15 to 14 per cent, the State Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa said that the move would adversely affect both farmers as well as the millers of Punjab.“Even earlier, the procurement agencies had been rejecting paddy on the slight pretext of higher moisture content. Moreover, this will create further complications for the rice millers as milling will not be conducive under the new norms,” he claimed.
The Congress leader expressed the apprehension that due to recent heavy rains in the region, the moisture content was likely to be higher and it would take more time to dry the paddy.PPCC chief said that yet another decision that would directly hit the millers was the reduction in the paddy milling period by about two months.
“Earlier, the time limit set for the paddy milling was June 30 which had now been brought down to April 15. With the amount of paddy coming to the markets in this state, it will be impossible for the millers to complete this job during this curtailed period,” he stated.He criticised Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal “for not raising his voice against these decisions”. “In case Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his party has any self-respect, the party should come out of the Modi Government,” he said.
“Why is Badal not raising voice...IJ He has been promising people that the change in the Government at the Centre will end all alleged discrimination by the UPA Government and the state would usher in a new era,” Bajwa said.
“It is the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had earlier rubbished Badal’s motivated propaganda against previous UPA Government while rejecting demand for a special package on the ground that the state had been getting more than its quota of funds from the UPA Government. This was the first set back to the Badal government. The decision on the new paddy norms is yet another salvo,” said Bajwa.
Bajwa wanted to know whether Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal, from the Akali Dal quota in the Modi Government, was party to this decision or not.“It is the earlier NDA Government which had given industrial concessions to the neighbouring States when Sukhbir Badal was the Union Minister of State for Industries. The two situations have strong parallels, and demanded explanation from Badal,” he said.