CHANDIGARH, DECEMBER 4 : Ms Kiran Chaudhry, leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Haryana, has accused the BJP Governments at the Centre and in the state, of going back on the party’s pre-poll promises. She has squarely blamed them for following anti-farmer policies which are driving the harried and harassed tillers, especially the cotton and grain growers in Haryana, to take drastic steps.
In a statement issued here today, she said that in its elections manifesto, the BJP had promised the farmers a minimum support price (MSP) which is 50 per cent more than the cost of production. But precious little has been done on this account.
On the contrary, the insensitive and unconcerned Manohar Lal Khattar Government in Haryana has allowed the cotton prices to dip from Rs 7,000 to Rs 3,000 per quintal. And, throwing the promises out of the window, the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre has increased the MSP for wheat by only by a paltry Rs 50 per quintal.
Besides, the tall-on-promises-and-short-on-action Haryana Government has failed to make arrangements for the supply of adequate quantity of fertilisers to the farmers for the wheat sowing season. Left in the lurch, they are forced to buy fertilisers in the black market which is adding to their cost of production. “Publicly, the BJP swears by the farmers but in reality it seems to care two hoots for them”, Ms Chaudhry remarked.
The black market in fertilizers, spurred by acute shortage, is flourishing in Haryana. This became evident when a truck carrying urea was caught in Sonepat the other day. The Khattar Government has done nothing to reach out to the farmers with help or to check the illegal trade, she said.
“While bringing misery to the famers, the anti-farmer policies pursued by the BJP Government have given a fillip to the illicit trade and spawned a new breed of profiteers who are getting financially fat at the cost of the state exchequer. It passes one’s comprehension that the Haryana Government which keeps harping on curbing wasteful expenditure to shore up revenue, should permit loss of revenue on account of the black market in fertilisers”, Ms Chaudhry said.
The fertiliser woes have made the plight of the famers who are already reeling under dry weather conditions, woeful. It is strange that the Khattar Government which has been blaming the Congress government for adopting pick and choose policy should resort to it in the distribution of relief for dry weather to the farmers in a few districts while the entire state did not have rains, she said.
“The BJP has been in power at the Centre for about six months and in Haryana for close to five weeks but none of the much-touted pre-poll promises has been fulfilled. How long will it take to keep its word to the people who are craving for the oft-promised “Achhe Din” which are nowhere to be seen and felt”, she asked.