CM: Centre obstructing wheat procurement at Akalis’ behest
Sunday, 05/05/2019
https://www.brightpunjabexpress.com/index.php/2019/05/05/cm-centre-obstructing-wheat-procurement-at-akalis-behest/
Chandigarh : Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of acting at the behest of the Akalis for deliberately creating shortage of gunny bags, with an aim of obstructing the procurement process to defame Congress in the state during the election time.
While Punjab, with its glut production of wheat, was being made to sweat it out for gunny bags, the neighbouring state of Haryana was being supplied extra bags by the Centre to ensure smooth and streamlined procurement operations ahead of May 12 polling, said the Chief Minister, lashing out at the Central Government for diverting the much-needed bales from Punjab to Haryana. He said four lakh bags (16,000 bales) had been diverted from Punjab to Haryana.
For the first time since taking over, the Congress government in Punjab was having problems in procurement, due to the Centre’s politically motivated actions in depriving the state of its much-needed supply of bags, Captain Amarinder said, alleging that the Central government was acting at the directions of its ally SAD to mess up the procurement process at the mandis.
To make the situation worst, the glut production from Haryana was being pushed into Punjab through the open borders, said the CM, adding that had instructed officials to stop such attempts. The Chief Minister said the BJP must put an immediate end to such petty tactics to promote its electoral prospects.
The Punjab government had been repeatedly taking up the issue of shortage of gunny bags with the Centre and the FCI, said Captain Amarinder, disclosing that he personally spoke to FCI Chairman DV Prasad yesterday. As a Central agency, the FCI was working under direct orders from the Central Government, which was acting in a totally unjust manner to create political problems for the Congress-led government in Punjab, he added.
In fact, Principal Secretary to Punjab Government, KAP Sinha, also wrote to Secretary for Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, on Saturday, warning that if the shortage of bales persists, it could lead to a law and order situation in the state.
As of May 3, 105.4 LMT of wheat had arrived in the mandis, with another 15-16 LMT expected to arrive by May 6, he pointed out, adding that a serious shortage of A-class bales was expected in Bathinda, Mansa, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur. Sinha requested that Punjab be allowed to purchase B-class bags from the open market to meet the shortfall.
Notably, Haryana got permission to use B-class gunny bags subjected to satisfactory inspection by the FCI but the same was denied to Punjab.
This was Sinha’s second such letter in four days but with the FCI failing to respond, the situation was likely to aggravate, with a total of 132 LMT of wheat expected to arrive in the mandis this season.
The Chief Minister pointed out that agricultural production was on the rise in view of his government’s focused interventions and support to the farmers.
This was obviously not going down well with the Akalis, who wanted to puncture the Congress balloon using all kinds of cheap tactics, including arm-twisting their alliance partner BJP to undermine the Congress government’s efforts to protect the interests of the farmers, said the Chief Minister.
The Centre, he pointed out, had been adamantly refusing to support the Punjab government’s farmer welfare initiatives, including debt waiver.
Captain Amarinder noted that the Centre’s apathy to Punjab and its people had been manifested in all their actions, including their refusal to support the state government’s various historic celebrations, including the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the 550th Prakah Purab Guru Nanak Dev. They have shown the extent to which they are willing to stoop to protect their political interests, he added.
