The Congress government in Rajasthan has accused the Centre of adopting a “discriminatory attitude” towards the State’s farmers, reflected in the lower targets set for procurement of mustard and gram on minimum support prices in comparison with the national average.
A ceiling of 25-quintal purchase on a day has been set for the farmers.
State Cooperative Minister Udai Lal Anjana has taken up the matter with Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, requesting him to enhance the procurement limit by 40%. In a letter addressed to Mr. Singh, Mr. Anjana said the Centre should allow the purchase of 14.35 lakh metric tonnes of mustard and 8.65 lakh tonnes of gram to give remunerative prices to farmers.
Mr. Anjana said the procurement targets of 5.50 lakh metric tonnes for mustard and 4.17 lakh metric tonnes for gram were insufficient and would fail to provide relief to farmers. The difference in MSP and market prices for the two crops ranged between ₹700 and ₹1,000 per quintal, he said.
The Minister pointed out that the State government had opened 246 procurement centres for mustard and 210 for gram. “There is a tremendous enthusiasm among the farmers to get themselves registered online, as the State government is committed to giving them full prices for their crops,” he said.
