Arvind Kejriwal promises MSP on 5 crops on Punjab lines, opposition says stop lying

Chandigarh: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while addressing a public meeting in poll-bound Gujarat on Saturday announced that if the Aam Aadmi Party forms a government in Gujarat, it will provide Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers on five crops on the line of Punjab. He also promised compensation of Rs 50,000 per hectare on crop damage and adequate electricity.

He said in Punjab, the AAP government is giving MSP on wheat, paddy, cotton, Narma and moong. If the crop is not sold in the market at MSP, then the government buys it, Kejriwal added.

His statement however created a strong reaction from opposition parties in Punjab.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday asked Kejriwal not to tell white lies to befool farmers in the run-up to assembly elections in Gujarat, saying the AAP government in Punjab had only promised MSP on Moong and Maize and failed to deliver on both.

Former minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said it was shocking that Kejriwal was claiming in Gujarat that the AAP government in Punjab was giving MSP on five crops and that the same formula would be replicated in Gujarat.

He said the truth is that the central government is procuring wheat and paddy on MSP in Punjab through the Food Corporation of India. Similarly, the Cotton Corporation of India procures cotton and Narma.

After forming a government, AAP Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann urged farmers to sow Moong and promised to procure the entire crop on an MSP of Rs 7,250 per quintal but did not even procure ten per cent of this crop. The Punjab government has similarly failed to procure the maize crop leaving farmers to their fate, said Cheema.

Telling Kejriwal not to give false hopes to farmers of Gujarat, Cheema said the farmers should come to Punjab and see the ground reality for themselves.

“The truth is that farmers have been indebted because they believed the AAP government and went in for large scale cultivation of Maize and Moong”.

The SAD leader said far from giving MSP on all crops, the Punjab government had still not given compensation to farmers whose crops had been damaged due to untimely rains. He said the government had also not given any compensation to farmers for losses suffered by them due to large-scale attacks of dwarfing virus in the current paddy crop.

Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira shared an RTI reply on his Twitter handle, which showed that a total of 4,86,399 quintals of Moong came to market for sale. Of this, the state could purchase only 54,761 quintals at MSP while 4,31,264 quintals went to private purchase at a market rate less than MSP.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur) president Jagjit Singh Dallewal told the Newsdrum that in Punjab, farmers sold their Moong crop between 4000-6000 per quintal against the Mann government’s assurance that their produce would be purchased at the entire Rs 7,250 MSP.

But during procurement, government agencies came late, forcing farmers to sell their crop between Rs 4000- Rs 6000 per quintal to private parties, thereby making huge financial losses.

“After procurement season, the state government promised to compensate the farmers with the difference between MSP and their sale price. Later it claimed that it would pay a difference of up to Rs 1,000 per quintal only. Even this amount has not been paid yet,” said Dallewal.

Sukhpal Khaira said in a tweet that he recently heard Mann on TV promising to pay the full MSP of Rs. 7275 Rs per quintal on Moong to all those farmers who sold their crops in a distress sale. “I will thank CM if he keeps his word,” he added.

I just heard @BhagwantMann on Tv promising to pay full Msp of 7275 Rs per quintal on Moong to all those farmers who sold their crop in distress sale. I’m attaching full data that shows only 11% farmers got Msp while 89% got very less rates. I will thank Cm if he keeps his word pic.twitter.com/CnqkLmCvOC

— Sukhpal Singh Khaira (@SukhpalKhaira) October 7, 2022

On the other hand, AAP spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang told Newsdrum that opposition claims are mere political propaganda.

In the last 70 years of Punjab history, AAP was the first government which promised MSP on five crops and we made sure that the last two crops - wheat and moong - were fully purchased on MSP.

For farmers who sold Moong below MSP, a portal was opened where farmers could claim difference amount. "The opposition is spreading misinformation and their claims have no substance, he added.