Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra on Tuesday informed the Assembly that toor dal growers were panicking as the government has procured less than 50% of the commodity so far.
Following the Centre’s direction, the State procured 26 lakh quintals of toor dal from farmers at ₹6,000 a quintal. More than 40 lakh quintals remains with farmers. The last date for procurement was February 15, Mr. Jayachandra said, blaming the Centre for fixing the quantity for procurement. “It is true that many growers are panicking,” he said.
The Minister said the Centre has not reimbursed funds totalling ₹1,350 crore to the State under the market intervention scheme.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar told the House that as many as 3,593 farmers have committed suicide during the Congress regime. He urged the government to continue procurement of produce. Shivananda Patil of the Congress suggested that both the Union and State governments should cooperate with each other in the interests of farmers.
