Union minister blames state for ‘tardy’ paddy purchase

Every sector related to agriculture was facing the brunt of wrong decision taken by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Bittu said.

Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Saturday held the AAP-led Punjab government responsible for creating glut in the state’s grain markets during the ensuing paddy procurement season and said that every sector related to agriculture was facing the brunt of wrong decision taken by chief minister Bhagwant Mann of an agrarian economy like Punjab.

Bittu claimed that Mann had said the state had double the space required for storing fresh crop. (HT File)

Lashing out at state government over the ‘tardy’ paddy lifting, Bittu said that Mann has not dared to visit even a single grain market in the state to know the harsh ground reality that farmers are facing. Instead, the former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has visited grain markets and discussed the problems faced by farmers.

Bittu claimed that at a meeting with the Union food minister, Mann had said the state had double the space required for storing fresh crop. “The chief minister had committed that over 3 lakh MT of space was lying vacant with the Punjab government for storing paddy. If there is no dearth of space, then why are mandis in the state flooded with paddy,” Bittu questioned.

He further said that the government has wrongly approved hybrid varieties of PR 126 paddy, which has become a bane for this procurement season as is riddled with diseases and farmers have ended up not only paying hefty price for seeds but also had to splurge on pesticides and insecticides.

Two months ago, the Centre had released over ₹44,000 crore to Punjab to ensure smooth procurement season and added that it was ready to give more funds if needed.

Bittu said that the Centre was committed to buying every grain from Punjab to pump the same into the Public Distribution System (PDS) so that the poor and hungry people can be fed. The grains procured are sent to all the states as per their requirement.

AAP leader and Anandpur Sahib MP Malvinder Singh Kang countered Bittu and claimed that had Centre has evacuated 15 lakh MT every month since January, there would have been enough space for storage by September, adding that the Centre held meetings with rice shellers but offered them no solution.

Paddy lifting from mandis in Punjab has been hit after the state rice millers refused to mill the paddy till their demands were met.

With inputs from PTI