Akali Dal slams AAP govt for paddy procurement mess

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday slammed chief minister Bhagwant Mann for the plight of farmers who are facing difficulties in selling their paddy in the mandis.
The Akali Dal alleged that the cultivators are suffering because they adhered to the state government’s appeal of sowing PR 126 variety. Now, it is not being procured in the mandis.
Briefing the mediapersons after the core committee meeting chaired by the party’s working president Balwinder Singh Bhunder, SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia said: “Action should be taken against both the chief minister and food and civil supplies minister Lal Chand Kataruchak for failing to procure paddy.”
Majithia said a party delegation would meet governor Gulab Chand Kataria soon to apprise him of the situation.
“The farmers are being forced to sell their produce below the minimum support price (MSP),” Majithia alleged, adding that even Basmati farmers were also suffering huge losses as their produce was selling at ₹2,700 per quintal in the mandis, while last year’s the produce fetched ₹4,000 per quintal.
“Farmers are facing a loss of as much as ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 per acre but the government is not intervening”, Majithia added.
Majithia also questioned the Akali rebel group accusing them of being in touch with both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He said a new anti-panthic coalition has been formed with the AAP and the BJP supporting the candidature of Bibi Jagir Kaur in the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections.
“The core committee has received information from SGPC members that they are being approached by BJP functionaries as well as Punjab government officers at the behest of the AAP government to support Bibi Jagir Kaur’s candidature,” he alleged.
Regarding upcoming bypolls, Majithia said: “The party’s parliamentary board would make the party’s position clear very soon”.