Amarinder hails wheat MSP hike

Chandigarh, Apr 22 (UNI) Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh today hailed immediate increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat from Rs 650 to Rs 700 per quintal.

Expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Manmohan singh for the move, Capt Singh said that this benevolent gesture of the Prime Minister would go a long way to help the farmers to overcome the galloping rise in the agricultural input costs.

It may be mentioned here that Capt Singh had put forth the demand of hike in the MSP of wheat at least by Rs 50 or announcement of bonus of minimum Rs 50 to compensate the farmers during his meeting with the Prime Minister in Delhi yesterday.

Capt Singh hoped in a statement issued here that Dr Manmohan Singh would soon announce a suitable policy to bail out the farmers of the state from the crisis of rural indebtedness. He said the increase in the MSP of wheat was indicative of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's firm commitment towards the welfare and prosperity of the peasantry.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Rural Development and Power minister Lal Singh, Food and Supplies minister Avtar Henry and Finance minister Surinder Singla also thanked the Prime Minister for taking a prompt decision to increase the MSP for wheat by Rs 50 in larger interest of the farming community.

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