Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Thursday accused Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh of cheating farmers of Punjab by passing agriculture bills in the State Assembly.
Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution rejecting three farm laws enacted by the central government as also the proposed Electricity Amendment Bill with the Chief Minister later leading a delegation to the Governor VP Singh Badnore urging him to give his assent to three bills passed by the assembly. Punjab is the first State to reject the three farm laws which were enacted after passage of relevant bills in the monsoon session of parliament last month. The Assembly passed three bills “unanimously” to “protect MSP and check hoarding of foodgrains”.
Dushyant said, “If Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh is truly farmer friendly, then instead of buying only wheat and paddy at MSP, Punjab should also purchase mustard, millet, pulses, sunflower, and other crops at MSP.”
“I request the Punjab Chief Minister not to cheat farmers. If they’ve to bring a law, then they should’ve brought it for crops produced at large level by farmers, which sell at a lower rate than minimum support price (MSP) in the market,” he told reporters in Panchkula after inducting newly appointed Chairman of Housing Board Haryana Rajdeep Phogat in his office.
In response to a query, the Deputy Chief Minister said that FCI does not procure paddy of variety 1509, so the Haryana Government has decided to procure variety 1509 of paddy on the lines of other varieties by Hafed at MSP of Rs 1888 per quintal. He said that in Haryana, five other crops are also procured at MSP at the state level instead of the MSP of the Central Government.