Amarinder urges Centre to ensure smooth paddy procurement; Punjab minister blames Union govt for hassles

Chandigarh: In a first public appearance in two years, BJP leader Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday visited a grain market to oversee problems faced by paddy growers in Punjab over selling the produce.

Soon after, state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the former chief minister “often meets with Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but why has he never raised the issues of farmers and commission agents in front of them”.

Meanwhile, commuters travelling on the Chandigarh-Delhi National Highway via Ambala faced traffic disruptions as farmer outfit Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) kept the highway shut for four hours over the “slow pace” of procurement of paddy.

Farmers accused the AAP government in Punjab and the BJP-led Union government of pushing the state into an agrarian crisis by delaying paddy procurement.

Another farmer outfit, Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, led by Sarwan Singh Pandher, has announced that farmers will resort to a road blockade for an indefinite period from October 26 to protest against the “tardy” paddy procurement.

“Unfortunately they (the farmers) are facing hurdles due to a tardy job of procurement planning by @AAPPunjab govt. I have assured the farmers and arthiyas that I will urge the central government to intervene to ensure a smoother procurement,” wrote Capt Amarinder Singh on X.

Responding to Capt Amarinder Singh’s visit to Khanna grain market, Asia’s largest, Cheema said “Captain’s political career has ended. Since the public has rejected him, he is now pretending to show sympathy for farmers by visiting the ‘mandis’”.

He mentioned that the people of Punjab know that the entire problem has been created by the central government as it has not lifted rice from warehouses on time and has not listened to the concerns of the millers and commission agents, causing distress to farmers and ‘arhtiyas’ (commission agents).

“Capt Amarinder Singh’s party (the BJP) hates Punjab. They hate the farmers and commission agents of Punjab, and that is why they are deliberately harassing them,” the AAP minister claimed.

“Captain knows that the central government has withheld thousands of crores from various funds meant for Punjab. The central government has been holding back RDP, MDF, and NHM funds for years, but Captain has never raised these issues before the Centre. Moreover, when the Modi government introduced the three controversial farm laws, Capt Amarinder Singh was supporting the Centre. At that time, the Aam Aadmi Party was in opposition, and we repeatedly stated that Captain was acting more as an agent of the BJP than as a Chief Minister of Punjab. That is why, as soon as he stepped down as Chief Minister, he joined the BJP,” Cheema added.

“Even when he was in office, he never spoke about the farmers, millers, or commission agents of Punjab. Now, out of desperation to stay relevant, he is putting on this act,” Cheema said in a statement.

As per government figures, 38.41 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) paddy has arrived in markets in the state till Thursday with daily arrival of 4.88 LMT.

The total lifting has been 10.25 LMT and the daily figure is touching the 2 LMT mark.

In the previous year, when the arrival was 38 LMT, the lifting figure touched around the 10 LMT mark with daily lifting coming around to 1.34 LMT.

–IANS