Chandigarh, November 17, 2020 (Yes Punjab News)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab has slammed the state Congress government for its lopsided decision to impose ban on the sale, purchase, storage and processing of paddy in more than 4,000 sub-yards and designated purchase centres in the state, leaving the beleaguered farming community in a quandary.
In a statement from party headquarters here on Tuesday, State Youth Wing President and Barnala MLA Meet Hayer said that the orders imposing an embargo on the sale, purchase, storage and processing of paddy at the designated yards and centres has come as a shocker to the farmers, who were already waging a grim battle against the central farm laws.
He added that the farmers had already suffered huge losses due to the mismanagement on the part government for not putting in place timely measure to protect the paddy lying scattered in ‘mandis’ due to the tardy lifting, saying the Captain government Punjab Punjab Mandi Board officials were responsible for the damage caused to the farmers due to the untimely rain on Sunday night.
Meet Hayer said “The decision, which seems to have been taken in a tearing hurry overrules the union government’s directive to allow sale purchase of paddy till the end of this. The decision has exposed the anti-farmer and anti-Punjab face of Captain Amarinder Singh” The AAP leader the ‘tall order of the government would have disastrous ramifications not only on farmers, farm laborers, ‘arhtiyas’, transporters but other sections of society, who would be left to face the heat.
He flayed the decision of the government, saying that it was hand in globe with the paddy ‘mafia’ active in the state under whose pulls and pressure the farmers were left to suffer, saying that the mafia enjoying political patronage was engaged in smuggling of paddy from other states, like Bihar and UP, allegedly purchasing at cheaper rates, ranging between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000 per quintal and selling it in Punjab ‘mandis’ at the MSP of Rs 1888 with impunity.
The Barnala MLA described the decision of the government as ill-timed and anti-farmer since the farmers were fighting on the roads and railway tracks for their survival and sustenance, adding that the government should have taken the decision keeping in view the inexplicable plight of the farmers, who had already suffered a lot due to anti-farmer policies of the subsequent state and central government.
He added that with the closure of designated purchase yards and centres would leave the beleaguered farmers with no obvious choice but to ferry their produce to the faraway centres by paying through their noses.
The youth leader has demanded that the state government should immediately direct Punjab Mandi board secretary, Ravi Bhagat to withdraw his orders seeking to ban the sale, purchase and procurement of paddy in the state, and restart the process, to protect the country’s ‘annadatta’ from perishing, saying if the Captain government failed to do so, the AAP would go the whole hog to expose the nexus between the government and the mafia lords ruling the roost without the scantest fear of the law.
