For Olympian, selling produce Herculean task

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Mansa, April 25

Farmers are protesting against the government daily over the shortage of gunny bags and lifting of produce in the mandis. Now it has come to the notice that Olympian rowing athlete Swaran Singh Virk is facing problems in selling his produce for the past six days at the Dalelwala grain market in Mansa district.

Virk said the Punjab Government had been claiming that the crop would be procured from the farmers within 24 hours, but he had waiting in the market for the past six days. Another farmer Sukhmeet Singh said the government had made poor arrangements in the mandis.

District Mandi Officer Rajneesh Goyal said the procurement of wheat was in a full swing. He said Virk’s case had come to his notice and Punjgrain officials had been informed. He said problems of Virk and other farmers would be solved soon.

AAP leaders Neel Garg, Navdeep Singh Jeeda said the procurement arrangements, including the supply of gunny bags, were poor in all grain markets across the state. They said the Congress government was betraying the farmers at the behest of the Modi government. They warned that if the government did not make proper arrangements, then they would stage a protest in the coming days.