CHANDIGARH: With paddy farmers suffering unjust cuts in Minimum Support Price (MSP) due to high moisture levels and black paddy grains, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Friday, came down heavily on the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government for its inaction and demanded immediate, unconditional paddy procurement at MSP.
Bajwa lambasted the AAP government for its lackluster efforts and insisted that it must urgently escalate the matter to the Union Government to secure relaxation in the procurement norms. He stressed that the farmers are suffering not because of negligence or malpractice, but due to natural calamities beyond their control.
“This season, too, farmers across Punjab are being forced to sell their crops at distress prices, facing unfair deductions ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 500 per quintal, ” Bajwa stated. “This has only worsened the financial strain already caused by erratic weather and significantly reduced yields.”
Bajwa labelled the government's rigid insistence on a 17% moisture level as not only impractical under current conditions but also cruelly indifferent to the hardships faced by the farming community.
He highlighted that over 4.30 lakh acres of standing paddy crops have been destroyed due to floods, severely affecting nine districts. Heavy rains left paddy fields waterlogged in the rest of the state, making it nearly impossible for farmers to meet the mandated moisture standards and grain quality.
“Farmers are spending sleepless nights in the mandis, only to receive underpriced procurement—this is unacceptable, ” Bajwa said.
Senior Congress Leader Bajwa also brought back into focus the serious allegations from the 2024 paddy procurement season, where farmers were reportedly coerced into selling their produce at distress rates. Bajwa pegged the financial scam at a staggering Rs 3, 000 to Rs 4, 000 crore, a matter he had raised in the Assembly. Despite his efforts, the issue was ignored and no proper investigation was conducted.
He accused the AAP government of replicating the same exploitative procurement model this year. “By manipulating procurement conditions, the government is once again forcing farmers to accept undervalued rates, perpetuating a cycle of exploitation and economic injustice.”