Potato farmers slam Badal for shifting blame
BAJINDER PAL SINGH

CHANDIGARH, JAN 23: Potato and other agricultural commodities seem to be poor cousins of wheat and paddy when it comes to government intervention. Potato farmers, who organised their protest dumping their produce on Jalandhar roads last week allege that while government rushes to the Centre every time there is a paddy glut, it does not even pay lip service to potato farmers.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s stand that the state government was unable to bail out potato farmers and his shifting the onus to the Centre has met with severe criticism from farmers who say that the state government is running away from its responsibilities.

Ajmer Singh, a farmer from Malsian in Nakodar, cites the instance of the Himachal Pradesh government, which offers a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for apples.

‘‘Apple is also a perishable commodity like potato, yet the Himachal government always announces an MSP for apple,’’ says Ajmer Singh. Similarly, he cites the instance of the Karnataka government where the Deputy Commissioner intervenes in case the price of agricultural commodities falls beyond a certain level.

‘‘If the Karnataka government can ensure this, what prevents the Punjab government from issuing similar orders?’’ he asks.

The least the state can do is ask the district administration to prevent procurement prices from plumetting beyond a certain level, or approaching the Centre asking agencies like NAFED to intervene, he adds.

Farmers also allege that unlike wheat and paddy, which has a MSP, the government does not seem to care about other agricultural commodities.On the other hand, it is the state government and its agencies which create the maximum noise, asking farmers to diversify and grow commodities other than wheat and rice, says Pawanjot Singh, another farmer from Dhogri, Jalandhar.Lack of intervention in ensuring compliance to agrarian laws is another point of contention among farmers. Iqbal Singh Chatha from Kartarpur says: ‘‘It is not glut, but we are complaining of lots of factors like traders misusing benefits available to farmers and thereby avoiding taxes.’’

This act implies that the state looses out on huge revenue because traders gobble up benefits meant for farmers.

Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.