Haryanas Former CM Blames BJP for Farmers Struggles Amid Procurement Failures
Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda criticizes the BJP government for failing to expedite rice and millet procurement, impacting farmers adversely.
Chandigarh, October 16 (Daily Kiran) : Bhupinder Hooda, the former Chief Minister of Haryana, has held the state’s BJP government accountable for the hardships faced by farmers. Speaking on Friday, he lamented the government’s failure to expedite the procurement of rice and millet, despite repeated requests from the farming community.
Hooda stated that not only has the government failed to speed up purchases, but it has also neglected to ensure timely transportation of products from procurement centers. He pointed out that recent rainfall has devastated farmers’ months of hard work, with millions of metric tons of rice submerged in water across markets in the state, leading to significant losses for both farmers and commission agents.
In his statement, the opposition leader urged the government to honor its commitment to purchase rice at the rate of ₹3,100 per quintal and called for a bonus to compensate for the losses incurred. After visiting various markets and speaking with farmers and agents, he found widespread dissatisfaction with the government’s arrangements.
Hooda noted that complaints were consistent: the procurement process is not functioning smoothly. Farmers are facing numerous issues, including gate passes, verification processes, purchase limits, long traffic jams, and excessive waiting times.
He alleged that the neglect of farmers has reached a point where even moisture measurement machines have been tampered with. When the same batch of produce was tested with three different machines, the moisture levels recorded varied significantly.
According to Hooda, this situation is part of a calculated scheme by the government. He accused the administration of deliberately avoiding purchasing farmers’ produce at the minimum support price (MSP), forcing them to sell their crops to private agencies at lower prices. As a result, farmers are compelled to sell rice for ₹400 less than the MSP and millet for ₹800 to ₹900 less than the MSP.
