Badal wants Centre to address farmers problems

Chandigarh, July 18 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today mainatined that Indian could once again become a wheat surplus country only if the central government takes steps to seriously tackle the problems of the agricultural sector.

" Give the farmers their dues and they will make India a wheat surplus state and you will not have to import the foodgrain", he said while addressing a media conference here.

He lamented that the central government had failed to link the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the price index. The input costs had increased manifold over the years, but the prices of wheat and other foodgrains had risen only marginally, he pointed out.

"If the government can provide subsidy to the industry in Himachal Pradesh, why cannot a subsidy be provided to the agricultural sector", he added.

UNI