Punjab CM to raise issues of legal guarantee to MSP, farm debt at NITI Aayog meeting

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said he will raise several issues, including a legal guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm debt, at the NITI Aayog governing council meeting in Delhi on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Mann slammed his predecessors Charanjit Singh Channi and Amarinder Singh for not attending such meetings earlier. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the seventh governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog, the government's apex policy think tank.

"I am going to attend the NITI Aayog meeting. I have done my homework on Punjab issues which will be put forth during the meeting," Mann said. He said it was after three years any representative from Punjab was going to attend the NITI Aayog meeting. "I will raise issues of water, debt of farmers, legal guarantee to MSP, canal system, cleaning of 'buddha nallah' (in Ludhiana), BBMB (Bhakra Beas Management Board) and also health-related matters," Mann said.

The chief minister said he would also try to meet Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Delhi and raise the issue of direct international flights from Amritsar and Mohali airports to London, Chicago, San Francisco and Vancouver.

Replying to a question on the MSP committee formed by the Centre, Mann said the government should involve farmer representatives rather than those who were in favour of the now-repealed farm laws. The Centre last month had formed a committee on MSP. The committee will look into ways to make MSP available to farmers by making the system more effective and transparent.