M A I N   N E W S

Exodus: plea to put off poll
Army takes over border fields
Ashok Sethi and Gurbax Puri

Khalra (Amritsar), December 27
The announcement of the election date in Punjab yesterday by the Election Commission refused to create excitement in the border belt of this area, where a majority of people have moved to safer places as the Army has laid mines and moved to the front in view of the military build-up by Pakistan. Mr Harbhajan Lal, sarpanch of this village with a population of 9,000, said the din of elections is likely to be lost in the war cry and hysteria build up by both countries.

He said elections at a time when war was a virtual reality would be futile as there was an exodus of people from villages like Thehkalan, Gill Pura, Mehndipur, Calas, Pola, Poti and Rajoke where the Army had got houses vacated for laying mines and fortifying its positions.

Mr Harbhajan Lal said the villagers had not been allowed to enter the area and to water their fields.

Meanwhile, the Punjab security and intelligence agencies are preparing a report to be submitted to the Punjab Government for the postponement of the elections.

Mr Gurbachan Singh, an elderly farmer from Thehkalan village, said the MLA of the area and the civil administration had not bothered to visit villages on the international border and to assess the situation following the takeover of fields by the Army. He said if the Army continued to occupy their land for a long period, they would be deprived of their livelihood. He urged the government to immediately provide them with compensation and alternative shelter till the Army was withdrawn.

Sarpanch of Calas village said it was the duty of the government to give them protection and security as they had been rendered homeless.

The Punjab police has made arrangements for a temporary camp at Bhikhiwind. The DSP, Mr Samsher Singh, however, said no one had yet reported in the camp.

Residents of Bhikhiwind have started collecting funds for holding langar for jawans. A senior Army officer said people had come forward to provide them with essential items which had created a sense of brotherhood.

Panic selling by cotton growers
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 27
After getting panicky over the development of a war-like situation on the Indo-Pak border, farmers of Ferozepore district of Punjab, Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Suratgarh and Bikaner areas of Rajasthan have started selling their cotton crop at prices being offered by the commission agents, traders and textile mills owners.

In the past one week, the daily arrival of cotton bales in the markets has gone up sharply on the one hand and on the other hand prices of narma variety of cotton has touched even below minimum support price (MSP) in various markets.

Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have already been making distress sale of a major part of their “white gold” due to low demand. Now the farmers are trying to out do each other to unload the holdover stock of cotton at the prevailing market price.

Due to low demand and increase in arrival of cotton bales, the price of cotton has started coming down and it has been fetching Rs 1650 to Rs 1700 for the narma variety and Rs 1600 to Rs 1750 for desi variety per quintal. The narma variety (staple cotton) has been fetching Rs 1650 per quintal in various markets despite the fact that the Central Government has fixed Rs 1675 per quintal as MSP for the same.

According to cotton traders and brokers, the narma variety was fetching Rs 1750 to Rs 1875 per quintal and desi variety is fetching Rs 1800 to Rs 1900 before the India and Pakistan started deploying forces along the zero line about two weeks ago. The prices of narma had come down to Rs 1650 to Rs 1700 and desi variety to Rs 1600 to Rs 1750.

Mr Ashok Kapur, president, Northern India Cotton Association, pointed out that arrival of cotton bales was recorded at about 15000 daily in north Indian markets before the December 13 attack on the Parliament House. After the deployment of Army on the Indo-Pak border, the arrival went up to 20,000 bales daily. He added as the situation on the border was becoming tense, the arrival was picking up.

He further pointed out that farmers was not getting remunerative prices of their crop as the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), and Markfed, had been making little purchases. He added that bulk purchases by these agencies and their subsequent expert could enable the farmers to get better prices.

The cotton growers, who had been suffering heavy losses for the past six months, first suffered heavy losses this season due to attack of American bollworm and then the little cotton crop, which they managed to collect from their fields could not get them adequate price due to import of cotton from the USA, Australia, CIS countries and Egypt by the textile mills owners. The war-like situation had now forced them to dispose of their produce at throwaway prices, said Mr Amritpal Singh Brar, president, Punjab Young Farmers Federation.

He alleged that the Central Government had failed to impose duty on the import of cotton and ensure better price for domestic producers.

He demanded that to improve the plight of cotton growers, the existing Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) should reconstituted by giving considerable representations to the cotton growers. He alleged that members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha belonging to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan were not taking up the issue relating to economic crises being faced by the cotton growers.

Meanwhile, due to heavy arrival of cotton crop in the markets and due to low demand, the import of cotton has come to a standstill. A number of textile mills owners, who have struck deals with foreign-based suppliers, are now trying to cancel the same as the prices of cotton are much lower in the domestic markets.