INLD condemns Centre for debarring private wheat buyers

Chandigarh, Mar 28 (UNI) Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has severely condemned the Centre's directive barring the corporates from buying their wheat stocks from Punjab and Haryana.

Terming it as a ''prejudice against the farming community of the two states'', INLD Secretary General and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Singh Chautala and State INLD president Ashok Arora announced that INLD would soon chalk out a suitable action planto oppose this move.

''The instructions has exposed the anti-farmer face of the Congress-led government and once again proven that all their policies and decisions are taken to ruin the farming community'', said the INLD leaders.

The Minimum support price (MSP) cannot be turned into maximum support price, the INLD demanded that the government should open the market to private players.

The MSP was meant to promote and protect the farmers but now the government wanted to crush the farmers, who were already suffering because of lack of adequate irrigation water, electricity and adverse weather, they said.

Mr Chautala claimed that the Centre imported lower quality wheat at the Rs 1300 per quintal while the Indian farmers were given only Rs 650 for the same, while the market prices were Rs 1100 to 1200.

Now the government has debarred the corporate and private players from entering in to Punjab and Haryana. This move of the government would adversely affect the farmer's interests, they warned.

While demanding the withdrawal of the bar on the purchase of wheat by the private parties, the INLD leaders advised the government to devise some other way to control the prices noting that though last year the government had purchased wheat at Rs 650 per quintal yet the wheat flour was sold at Rs 16 per kg. Some black marketeers protected by influential people of the government earned the whole profit, they alleged.

''On one front the farmers were duped of while on the other hand the government did nothing to provide rations to poor persons at reasonable cost'' they claimed.

The INLD leaders said if the government was serious to provide relief to the poor, then it should make efforts to provide wheat flour and pulses at the prices of Rs 4 and Rs 20 per kg the Punjab pattern.

''Government should give full prices to the farmers where as the people should be provided provisions at the subsidised rates'', said INLD leaders.

UNI