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Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann to raise legal guarantee to MSP, farm debt at NITI Aayog meeting
Bhagwant Mann slams predecessors Charanjit Singh Channi and Capt Amarinder Singh for skipping the NITI Aayog meeting over the past three years; Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the seventh governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog, the government’s apex policy think tank.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann said he will raise several issues, including a legal guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm debt, at the NITI Aayog governing council meeting in New Delhi on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters in Chandigarh on Saturday, Mann slammed his predecessors Charanjit Singh Channi and Capt Amarinder Singh for not attending such meetings earlier.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the seventh governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog, the government’s apex policy think tank.
“I am going to attend the NITI Aayog meeting. I have done my homework on Punjab issues which will be put forth during the meeting,” Mann said.
He said it was after three years that any representative from Punjab was going to attend the NITI Aayog meeting.
“I will raise the issues of water, debt of farmers, legal guarantee to MSP, canal system, cleaning of Buddha Nallah’ (in Ludhiana), BBMB (Bhakra Beas Management Board) and health-related matters,” Mann said.
The chief minister said he would also try to meet civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Delhi and raise the issue of direct international flights from Amritsar and Mohali airports to London, Chicago, San Francisco and Vancouver.
Replying to a question on the MSP committee formed by the Centre, Mann said the government should involve farmer representatives rather than those who are in favour of the now-repealed farm laws.
Last month, the Centre formed a committee on MSP. The committee will look into ways to make MSP available to farmers by making the system more effective and transparent.
