Punjab Cong leaders meet Sonia for Rs 100/q paddy bonus

Chandigarh, Oct 20 (UNI) The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC_ today demanded that the bonus on paddy should be enhanced from the Rs 50 per quintal announced last week by the Union Government to Rs 100 per quintal.

This demand was made in a memorandum submitted to Congress President Sonia Gandhi by the PPCC at Delhi today. The Congress delegation comprising of several senior leaders including MPs and MLAs was led by PPCC chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee.

While thanking the Union Government led by the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for announcing the Rs 50 per quintal bonus, the PPCC demanded that it should be increased to Rs 100 per quintal as the prices of agri inputs like diesel, fertilizers and pesticides had shot up in the last few months. The memorandum also made a mention of the paddy crop being damaged in parts of Punjab due to floods.

The gesture of notifying 1121 variety of rice as Basmati has further benefited the Punjab farmers to the tune of crores of rupees as each quintal of this variety maintly sown in Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur areas will fetch a price of Rs 2000 per quintal instead of Rs 850 per quintal, the memorandum stated.

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