Perceiving the Agriculture Price Commission’s latest recommendation to the Centre to review the Minimum Support Policy (open ended) policy as a serious threat to Punjab’s farmers, the Congress MPs on Wednesday asked Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to approach the Prime Minister and urge him not to consider any such review.
At a meeting convened by the Chief Minister to discuss budget proposals for the next fiscal and various issues pending with the Centre, the Members of both Houses of Parliament decided that the Chief Minister should press upon the Prime Minister the dangers of accepting the Agriculture Price Commission’s recommendation.
Any change in MSP procurement policy will adversely impact Punjab’s economy, they felt, expressing the fear that the Centre would limit procurement as the first step towards putting an end to MSP purchase.
The Lok Sabha MP’s in the meeting included Amar Singh, Jasbir Singh Gill, Chaudhary Santokh Singh, Preneet Kaur, Manish Tewari, Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Mohd. Sadiq. The Rajya Sabha MPs, who participated were Shamsher Singh Dullo and Pratap Singh Bajwa.
Key issues
An official statement said, among the other key issues of Punjab’s interest pending with the Centre, that came up for discussion during the meeting, were Punjab’s demand for compensation of ₹100 per quintal to farmers for zero burning of paddy residue, reduction of tax rate for dairy cooperatives, and exemption of dairy products from free trade negotiations.
