CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday came down heavily against the Centre's decision to ban the export of wheat and demanded compensation of Rs 500 per quintal of wheat for the farmers.
He sought relief for the double whammy of "weather-driven calamity of drastic lower yield on the one hand and the shrunken market following export ban on the other".
Akali Dal demanded the export ban be lifted immediately to stop an artificially created fall in demand for farmers' produce. "A fall in demand will have a negative spiral impact on the entire economy. The farmers and farm labourers will be the worst sufferers with no economic segment will escape its negative short-term and long-term consequences."
He said the withdrawal of export ban has become all the more necessary now that the farmers, especially in Punjab, have suffered a huge and unbearable blow with an estimated 33 per cent lower wheat yield because of unexpected weather fluctuations.
The SAD chief said the government must apply uniform standards and adopt identical policies with regard to fall in productivity and production in industry and agriculture.
Giving the example of fall in steel production, Badal said as a result of fall in production, steel prices have skyrocketed.