Channi bats for farmers in mandis
Saturday, 23/04/2016
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/channi-bats-for-farmers-in-mandis/226328.html
Amritsar : Congress Legislature Party (CLP) chief Charanjit Singh Channi today visited the Bhagtanwala and Rayya grain markets in Amritsar.
He also met farmers at Dana Mandi and listened to their woes. Later, he met a delegation of arhtiyas.
Congress party men also sat on a dharna in the mandi and raised slogans against the state government.
The CLP leader alleged the CM and his son-in-law’s direct involvement in the Rs 12,000 crore foodgrain scam and in the wilful diversion of funds meant for the procurement of grain from farmers. He demanded a CBI probe into it. Addressing the media in Amritsar, Channi also demanded an independent inquiry into the delay of payments to farmers. “The farmers are sitting for the past four days and not even a single penny has been given to them despite the Chief Minister openly declaring the release of the cash credit limit,” he said.
Channi said that on average, three farmers were committing suicide daily due to the wrong policies of the SAD-BJP government.
The Congress leader shared the vision of the party for the farming community. He said if voted to power, the Congress government would promote agro-based cottage industry. More stress would be laid on crop diversification, which earlier was also started by the Congress government in 2002-07, he said.
He said that during the Congress regime from 2002 to 2007, Captain Amarinder Singh didn’t allow the farmers to sit for a day in the mandis with their produce. The Congress government in 2004 took Rs 4,500 crore for procurement from the Union Government. It was evenly utilised till 2007, but the present regime misused the funds and the multi-crore foodgrain scam has surfaced.
“Even the MSP hike for wheat and paddy during the UPA regime was according to the prevailing market price, but it was meagre in the NDA regime. This clearly shows that Congress governments in the state and at the Centre are always farmer-friendly,” he said. Lambasting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for their false propaganda in Punjab, Channi said that AAP was just a bunch of inexperienced and visionless leaders.
“AAP has no political vision for Punjab as the same bunch of leaders, who have been taking favours from the Akali Dal and Congress in the past, are heading it. They are making claims of generating 14 lakh jobs in Punjab while, according to their own government figures in Delhi in the past two years, they could only generate employment of 1,700. These figures expose the propaganda of AAP in Punjab,” he said. Others present on the occasion included Dr Raj Kumar Verka, OP Soni, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Harjinder Singh Thekedar, Jasbir Singh Gill, Karamjit Singh Rintu, Sardul Singh, Sunil Datti, Rajiv Bhagat, Joginder Pal Dhingra and Ashwani Puri.
Foodgrain scam: Dullo seeks high-level probe
Bassi Pathana: Senior Congress leader and newly appointed Rajya Sabha member Shamsher Singh Dullo here today demanded a high-level probe into the Rs 12,000-crore foodgrain scam, while apprehending that the Punjab government could misuse Rs 17,000-crore funds released by the Centre. Talking to mediapersons during a visit to the Bassi Pathana grain market, Dullo said farmers were in distress due to tardy lifting of their wheat crop. However, District Food and Civil Supplies Officer Rupinderpal Kaur said crop lifting was better this time compared to last year.
First verify stock in godowns: Jakhar
Abohar: Unfazed by the “threats” of some SAD leaders to file defamation suit against Congress representatives over issues relating to alleged bungling in wheat procurement, party leader Sunil Jakhar on Friday said Akali Dal general secretary and MP Prem Singh Chandumajra would have to also file suits against CAG and the RBI, which had indicated Rs 12,000-crore scam.
“Let the government first verify stocks in thousands of godowns before denying the reports,” Jakhar said here today. Minister for Food and Supplies Adesh Pratap Singh has confessed that Rs 900 crore out of cash credit limit was diverted to the ‘Atta Dal scheme’. Was that not an unfair practice, Jakhar asked.
The Congress leader said: “The Akalis are getting frustrated as they foresee a massive defeat in the next Vidhan Sabha elections. People have realised that their (SAD) motto was ‘mewa’ in fact and not ‘sewa’,” he said.
“They will be remembered in future for ruining the unemployed youth and sheltering drug mafia. They have also ruined the state’s farm sector,” Jakhar alleged.
Manpreet blames SAD-BJP govt for poor grain lifting
Moga: Former Finance Minister and Congress leader Manpreet Badal has alleged that the farmers, labourers and arhtiyas are facing many hardships in grain markets.
He was talking to mediapersons at Moga after visiting grain markets of the district. He interacted with farmers, labourers and arhtiyas to know about the problems being faced by them.
Alleging that the biggest problem was lifting of foodgrain and payments to farmers, the estranged nephew of CM Badal said the SAD-BJP government was responsible for this mess in the grain markets.
At the Samalsar grain market, he said the Agricultural Marketing Board was earning crores from the procurement of foodgrain and other sources, but had not provided even basic facilities at most of the markets.
