Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged the NDA government at the centre to bring in place a viable mechanism, on the lines of Swaminathan formula, for fixing the prices of crops to bail out the farmers from the current agrarian crisis.Interacting with the media persons on the side lines of his thanks giving tour in Dhuri assembly here today, the Chief Minister said that the Union government must adopt some appropriate formula as proposed by the renowned agri-scientist Dr. MS Swaminathan, for fixing the prices of crops in the country to save the farmers. He said that the existing formula of the fixing the prices was absurd and had insignificance relevance in the present scenario. Mr. Badal bemoaned that as per the existing formula the farmers were not even considered at par with the skilled labour, which was sheer injustice with them. “Due to the flaws in the existing price fixation policy the gap between the inputs costs and income of the farmers have further widened, which have made agriculture an absolutely non-profitable and un-remunerative venture” he added.
The Chief Minister further said that the state government had recommended the cost of the Rabi crop for the year 2015-16 to the Union government, while keeping in view the market price of the various inputs like seeds, fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, irrigation and labour along with various other factors including the marketing expenditure and weather risks. He said that they have Government of India (GoI) to fix the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of crops like Wheat, Barley, Gram and Mustard at Rs 1950, Rs. 1640, Rs. 3800 and Rs. 3600 per quintal respectively. “We have proposed the hike in MSP after determining the input costs of the Rabi crops for which agricultural experts had thoroughly analyzed the current situation” added Badal.
Batting for diversification of agriculture, the Chief Minister said that as farming was no longer a profitable preposition so the farmers must opt for allied farming sectors like Dairy, fishery, piggery, goatery, apiary and others to supplement their income. He said that even the farmers should come out of the rut of wheat/paddy rotation and cultivate high value added crops like pulses and oilseeds which were far more remunerative than the traditional crops.When asked to comment on the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi to Sri Anandpur Sahib, the Chief Minister said that he had personally extended invitation to Mr. Modi for attending the celebrations of 350th foundation day of Sri Anandpur sahib, which was accepted by him. He said that there was no other purpose of the Prime Minister’s visit to Sri Anandpur Sahib adding that Mr. Modi was just coming to be a part of this mega event.Earlier in his address during thanks giving tour in village Ladha, Kanjhla, Kanjhli, Latt, Bahuta, Quilla Hakima, Ballian, Dhandiwal and others, the Chief Minister asked the people to play a proactive role in the development works of the state by personally monitoring them.The Chief Minister was accompanied by Cabinet Minister Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, MLA Mr. Gobind Singh Kanjhla and his Special Principal Secretary Mr. KJS Cheema.