Paddy, millet procurement started with deliberate delay in Haryana: Hooda

Rohtak : Leader of Opposition in Haryana Bhupinder Hooda on Tuesday said the procurement of paddy and millet in the state started with deliberate delay that led to farmers selling crops at loss.

Participating in the Dussehra festival here, two-time chief minister Hooda said: "This festival inspires us to follow the path of principles, dignity and humility like Lord Ram and also teaches us that no one should ever be arrogant like Ravana. Because in the end, arrogance and injustice are defeated."

Earlier, while talking to the media he said only empty claims are being made by the BJP-JJP government on the minimum support price (MSP) of the crops.

"The truth is that the MSP has remained limited to papers only during the stint of this government. I have myself visited markets across the state and the markets were filled with paddy with the smooth procurement not being done by the government.

"Everyone, including farmers, laborers and commission agents, appeared to be in dire straits because the government deliberately delayed the procurement of paddy and millet. Owing to this, the crop rates fell in the market and farmers had to sell their crops at rates lower than the MSP."

Hooda said: "If the government had started procurement in the beginning itself, farmers would have got good rates for paddy and millet. But the aim of the government is only to harm the farmers. The same attitude of the government can be seen regarding stubble burning. No farmer wants to set fire in his field. Since there is no arrangement for disposal of stubble by the government, some farmers do so under compulsion.

"Instead of imposing a fine on them, the government should make arrangements for disposal of stubble." The Congress leader said in this crop season claims being made by the government regarding the process for crop procurement on portal has once again been exposed.

"The portal stopped working as soon as the procurement started. Large scale mismanagement and scam was seen in crop registration. It was even seen that some farmers were registered even though they had not grown paddy and many farmers, who had grown paddy, were not registered,” he added.