Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said the party would hold a thanksgiving rally on July 11 to mark the historic increase in minimum support price (MSP) of Kharif crops which would be presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The SAD president, who presided over a meeting of party legislators, party candidates and district presidents at the head office here, said the rally, which would be held at Malout, would be attended by farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
Badal said the party rank and file as well as the farmers of Punjab were waiting anxiously to give a rousing welcome to the Prime Minister for his bold and decisive step to implement the Swaminathan Commission report which called for 50 per cent profit on input cost.
Badal said the rally, which was being jointly hosted by the BJP, would also witness attendance of thousands of farmers from the two neighbouring States. "We are confident this will be a historic occasion on which the entire farming community will come together on one platform to thank Narendra Modi for the largesse extended to the farming community", he added.
SUKHBIR ASKS CAPT AMARINDER TO THANK MODI ON INCREASE IN MSP
Earlier, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal asked Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh not to play politics over the increase in MSP of paddy and other crops and show grace and acknowledge the immense benefit given to Punjab farmers by Prime Minister Narender Modi.
In a statement, Sukhbir said it did not behove a chief minister to deny the largesse meted out to farmers of his State. He said the Rs 200 per quintal increase in paddy had resulted in an individual increase of Rs 6,000 per acre to every farmer. Badal said farmers would accrue additional revenue of Rs 4,500 per acre due to the MSP hike in this season alone. He said the State agricultural marketing board would net additional revenue of around Rs 200 crore by way of market fee and rural development fund. "Arhatiyas will earn Rs 100 crore" .
Badal said all these facts proved that the recent hike in MSP would boost Punjab's economy. He said besides paddy, farmers growing cotton would get an additional income of around Rs 10,000 per acre. "All this is as per the Swaminathan Commission report ensuring 50 per cent increase on input costs. Even Dr Swaminathan, who submitted his report to the UPA government in 2006 only to have it put in the cold storage, has welcomed the NDA Government's decision to implement it finally "