Hooda, Surjewala visit grain markets, slam govt for delay in paddy procurement

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said the Haryana government is deliberately delaying paddy procurement to avoid purchasing it on MSP.

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala have slammed the government for not procuring the paddy lying in mandis for the past couple of days.

Though paddy has started arriving in Haryana grain markets, farmers say that the Haryana government has not started procurement. The delay has left them worried. (MANOJ DHAKA/HT)

Hooda said it is clear that the government doesn’t want to procure farmers’ produce on MSP, which is why they are imposing several conditions and repeatedly changing the procurement schedule. Hooda visited several grain markets in Karnal, Kurukshetra and Panipat districts and interacted with the farmers, arhtiyas and labourers. He said the mandis are flooded with paddy and there was no space in most of the grain markets due to delayed procurement.

“Farmers are forced to sell their produce to private agencies below MSP due to lack of government buyers,” he added. “Farmers are being harassed on the pretext of e-portal registration and high moisture content,” said Hooda.

Interacting with reporters after visiting the Jind grain market, Surjewala said paddy is lying in the open as government has failed to initiate the procurement process. “The government has not been procuring paddy in the name of high moisture content. If it rains, who will be responsible for the grains getting soaked? The government has decided to reduce bajra procurement by 80%, besides reducing the rates of labour per bag from ₹12.76 to ₹8.56,” he added.