Congress MLAs to move HCas purchase delayed

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Palwal, April 20

Congress MLAs from Palwal and Hodal staged a dharna protesting the delay in wheat procurement.

Palwal MLA Karan Singh Dalal and Hodal MLA Uday Bhan announced to file a PIL in the High Court over the authorities’ alleged move to declare a majority of the wheat that has arrived in the mandis unfit for purchase due to lustre-loss.

Only 36,255 quintals of wheat has been procured against the two lakh quintals that arrived since April 1, when procurement commenced.

Addressing supporters at the grain market, Dalal who had raised the issue at the recently held meeting of the district grievances committee, described the problem as a result of the misplaced policies and actions of the state government. Holding the authorities responsible for the mess, he said the procurement agencies’ move to declare almost 80 per cent of wheat that arrived in Palwal and Mewat mandis unfit for purchase due to lustre-loss, had aggravated the debt-ridden farmers’ problems.

“The value cut imposed by the FCI and other agencies on wheat brought in by the farmers has made commission agents boycott purchase, despite the claims that the government has relaxed norms for procurement,” Uday Bhan claimed.

He said this had resulted in a standoff between the commission agents and the farmers over the last 10 days, making the farmers suffer unnecessarily. Bhan said being the public’s representatives, they would not allow this kind of treatment to the farmers and would expose the wrong doings of the BJP government.