Punjab Governor for central package for boosting agri sector

Chandigarh, Mar 19 (UNI) Expressing concern on the increasing number of suicides by farmers in the border state and the dwindling agriculture economy, state Governor Gen (Retd) S F Rodrigues today said that a central package, on the lines of the one given to certain other states, but of a bigger magnitude, is needed to help Punjab.

Pointing out that the state's economy is under severe stress, the Governor while addressing the first session of the 13th Vidhan Sabha here, assured that the state government was determined to take definite steps in this direction.

'' The government also looks for major inputs from the Centre, to help the state tide over the looming crisis as witnessed in the rising graph of farmers suicides'', he said.

Almost all key sectors of economic activity have suffered neglect over the past few years and one of these was agriculture, he said. For the first time in the state's history, agricultural production registered a fall, that seriously affected the rural economy, he said while referring to indebtedness amongst the peasantry.

It was shocking that the growth rate of agriculture in Punjab, which was regarded as the leading farming state in the country, had fallen below the national average, he added.

The rate of annual increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat fell by nearly 470 per cent from Rs 47 per quintal during the period 1997-2002 to just Rs 10 per quintal in the subsequent five years, he said.

Similarly, in the same period, the rate of annual increase in the MSP of paddy fell from Rs 33 to Rs 10 per quintal, he said while pointing that the prices of all agricultural inputs registered a steep increase, with diesel prices alone going up by nearly one hundred per cent.

Referring to the inclement weather over the past few weeks that had caused serious damage to crops, the Governor said the government had already ordered special 'girdawairs' to assess the actual extent of damage and to prepare a report for compensation to the affected farmers.

Turning to the state's staggering finances, Gen Rodrigues pointed out that the persistance of large fiscal deficit over the years ha dled to accumulation of staggering debt which would touch Rs 53,000 crore at the end of the current fiscal year.

Referring to Punjab as a debt-stressed state, he pointed out that the state had registered a growth rate of less than two per cent against the national growth rate of 8.99 per cent.

More UNI