‘New paddy norms are anti-farmer’
Monday, 15/09/2014
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=114679&boxid=58516&uid=&dat=2014-09-15
Chandigarh : Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa on Sunday flayed the decision of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for fixing new norms about paddy procurement and milling as yet another big set back to the state after the rejection of the demand of the Akali Dal-BJP government for special package as ‘anti-Punjab, anti-farmer and anti-miller’. He said in case Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his party had any self-respect, the party should come out of the Modi government.
In a statement, he strongly opposed the decision of the Centre to bring down the paddy moisture content limit from 15 to 14 per cent as this would adversely affect both the farmers as well as the millers. Even earlier, the procurement agencies had been rejecting paddy on the slight pretext of higher moisture content. Moreover, this would create further complications for the rice millers as milling would not be conducive under the new norms.
He expressed apprehension that due to untimely rains in the region, the moisture content was likely to be higher and it would take more time to dry the paddy.
The PPCC chief said yet another decision that would directly hit the millers was the reduction in the paddy milling period by about two months. Earlier, the time limit set for the paddy milling was June 30 which had now been brought down to April 15. With the amount of paddy coming to the mandis in this state, it would be impossible for the millers to complete this job during this curtailed period.
He lambasted Badal for not raising his voice against this ‘anti-Punjab’ decision by his own government at the Centre as all along, he had been promising people that the change in the government at the Centre would end all alleged discrimination by the UPA government and the state would usher in a new era.
“It is Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had earlier rubbished Badal’s propaganda against the previous UPA government at the Centre while rejecting the demand for a special package on the ground that the state had been getting more than its quota of funds from the UPA government.
