-The Government must ensure immediate payment for wheat purchases

The Slow Lifting in the markets is causing problems for commission agents and farmers:-Kumari Selja

:-The BJP's catchphrases are weighing heavily on farmer's:-Kumari Selja

:-The State's Grain Markets are overflowing with grain due to collusion with transporters:-Kumari Selja

:-The BJP's Promise to pay for purchases within 72 hours has proven to be a lie:-Kumari Selja

Chandigarh,

The
General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee and former Union
Minister, Kumari Selja said that the BJP government's promise to pay for
wheat purchases within 48 to 72 hours has turned out to be a phrases.
In the markets, payment for more than half of the sold crops is still
pending, even though 12-15 days have passed since their sale.
Additionally, slow lifting of wheat from the markets has become a
problem for commission agents and farmers. There is also a risk of the
wheat, stored openly in sacks, spoiling again due to Western
disturbances.

In a statement released to the media, Kumari Selja
said that before the start of the wheat purchases, BJP leaders had begun
making statements that the crop bought at the MSP would be paid for
within 48 to 72 hours. Now, this promise has turned out to be completely
baseless. The lack of timely payments has left the farmers in a state
of uncertainty. After experiencing three instances of rain and hail, the
delay in payments has further compounded the farmers suffering. The
former Union Minister said that so far, more than 44 lakh tons of wheat
have arrived in the state's markets, out of which only 37 lakh tons have
been purchased. Meanwhile, out of the 8 lakh 84 thousand tons of
mustard that reached the markets, only 6 lakh 73 thousand tons have been
purchased. More than half of the farmers who sold their crops have not
received a single rupee in their accounts yet. When the delay in payment
is happening at the government's level, the state government should
also pay interest on it to the farmers. Kumari Selja said that there has
been a large-scale scam in the procurement of sacks and tenders issued
to transporters. There are reports of commission sharing from the bottom
to the top. This commission issue is why sacks reached the markets
late. The same situation occurred with transporters. Those who were
given the task of transporting wheat and mustard often did not even have
their own vehicles. As a result, only 25 percent of the
government-purchased mustard and wheat has been lifted from the markets
so far. The former Union Minister said that as the crop harvesting is in
full swing, the farmer does not have the capacity to store wheat. The
farmer is bringing wheat directly from the field to the market. Despite
this, not purchasing in the markets even for a day is a blatant
anti-farmer move by the BJP government. The state government must
improve its systems and ensure that every grain of the crop is purchased
at the MSP, and the lifting process should be expedited.