Amarinder appeals farmers not to be misled by Badal

Chandigarh, Sep 13 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today said the state government was committed for the overall development and prosperity of the farmers.

He said that it was the concerted and sincere efforts of Congress government that had resulted in an enhancement of Rs 40 per quintal over the initial increase of Rs 10 in the MSP of paddy.

He claimed that with this increase, the income of farmers of Punjab would rise at the rate of Rs 50 per quintal for paddy.

He further said that the state government was also taking up the matter with the Central Government to merge bonus of Rs 40 as MSP.

Reacting to the news items that appeared in a section of the press regarding the confusion between the MSP and bonus, Capt Singh said that there should not be any confusion about this increase of Rs 50 per quintal of paddy that the farmers would get during Kharif marketing season 2006-07.

Capt Singh appealed the farming community not to be misled by the malicious propaganda of Shiromani Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal as he was time and again raking up frivolous issues to mislead the people.

Capt Singh reiterated that the cost of agricultural inputs had risen by 122 per cent whereas the MSP was stagnating at 57 per cent over the past few years due to which the farmers were being virtually squeezed as per a study undertaken by the experts of Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.

Capt Singh further said, ''The SAD president was envious of our policies and programme having far reaching impact on our agriculture and economy while the Akalis did nothing substantial in this regard.'' He said that Akalis who claimed themselves to be the protagonist of the farming community merely exploited them till today.

UNI DP LL RN1913