Badal for merger of bonus on wheat with MSP

Muktsar, Mar 17 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today demanded merger of bonus with minimum support price (MSP) of wheat.

The Centre had yesterday announced a bonus of Rs 100 on the minimum support price of Rs 750 per quintal of wheat for the current Rabi season.

Addressing media persons at Ratta Tibba in Muktsar district during the 'Sangat Darshan Programme', he said it was not proper on the part of the Centre to announce the bonus on MSP. Rather it should have revised the MSP and fixed it at Rs 900 per quintal as demanded by him during his recent meeting with the Prime Minister at New Delhi, he added.

Mr Badal requested Dr Manmohan Singh to advise the Agriculture Ministry to review its decision and immediately increase the MSP of wheat to Rs 900 per quintal.

The Chief Minister said that in a move to facilitate the cotton growers in the state, the Punjab Government had decided to slash the price of recommended qualities of BT cotton seed from Rs 1390 to Rs 760 per packet, which would now be available from the Markfed, Punseed and authorised distributors of reputed seed firms.

To a query regarding the constitution of the ''Excesses Commission'' as promised during the assembly elections to fix accountability of the previous regime, Mr Badal said he was giving a due thought to it.

Replying to another question to review the mega projects set up by the previous Government, the Chief Minister said that he had not yet seen the files and would only comment on it after going through the contents in the files. He, however, said that any project that smacked of corruption would be dealt with accordingly.

He said that his Government was not vindictive against anybody and rule of law was the parameter to decide the wrong and right.

Asked to comment on the stand of his party on scraping the Section 5 of the Punjab Termination of Rivers Water Act, Mr Badal said the Government was seeking a legal opinion from eminent lawyers and jurist in this regard.

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