E-Paper
Make MSP a legal guarantee: CM Mann at Niti Aayog meeting
CM Mann said that the MSP must be remunerative as the input cost of agriculture have increased manifolds and farmers are not getting remunerative price for their crops
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday demanded the Centre to make minimum support price (MSP) a legal guarantee and assure a marketing system for alternative crops.
Addressing the national council meeting of Niti Aayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Mann said that the MSP must be remunerative as the input cost of agriculture have increased manifolds and farmers are not getting remunerative price for their crops.
Rejecting the committee on MSP constituted by the Centre, the chief minister demanded that it should be reconstituted with ‘real farmers’ as its members.
“The committee now is dominated by the arm chair economists who don’t have any knowledge about agriculture. Agricultural experts and all the other stakeholders must be made members of this committee,” he said.
Expressing concerns over import of pulses in the country on exorbitant prices, the CM said that this drain of country’s wealth needs to be checked and Punjab can play an important role in production of pulses.
“The (union) government must announce MSP for pulses and assure marketing system for it,” he said.
Seeking MSP on alternative crops, the CM said it would help check depleting water levels, support diversification and help farmers move away from wheat and paddy cycle.
“Out of total 150 blocks, water level in 117 blocks is in dark zone (meaning where usage is more than recharge of the level),” Mann said.
He said that food processing industry in the state has a larger scope, which could be tapped with government support.
“Allot funds for processing industry, litchi of Pathankot, kinnows of Hoshiarpur and Abohar besides potatoes of Jalandhar are world known for quality,” he said during the meeting.
Apprising the Niti Aayog that the state government is making efforts to revamp education structure in the state, he said, “the top priority of my government is to ensure quality and accessible education to students especially the girls.”
He demanded special allocation of funds for rejuvenation of canal system in the state to strengthen and repair the existing canals constructed many years ago.
He also sought release of funds for higher education, saying that his government will open 16 new medical colleges, taking the total to 25.
On urban development, the Chief Minister said that the state government aims to decongest big cities by shifting industrial units out of it. ”A detailed plan is being chalked out for this purpose” he said.
Criticising his predecessors, the chief minister said that no one in the past cared to attend Niti Aayog meeting during the last three years, resulting in a loss to the state.
“None of them came to attend the meeting and just wrote letters which were of no use. I have used this platform for raising the issues being faced by the state and I am hopeful that the Government of India will pay heed towards resolving them,” he said. ENDS
