CHANDIGARH: Member of Parliament and  Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal Saturday called on the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to announce immediate cut in diesel, petrol and fertilizer prices in view of the sharp reduction in the  prices of crude oil in international market.

The Akali Chief also demanded that the Minimum Support Price of paddy be fixed at Rs 1000 per quintal as recommended by the Agricultural Costs and Prices Commission and an additional bonus of at least Rs.300 per quintal.

"The prices of crude have registered a nearly 44 percent, falling from the peak of 150 to the present 82 dollars a barrel. Since the government of India had hiked diesel prices in the domestic market ostensibly because of the rise in the price of crude in the world markets, there is no reason why it should not announce a corresponding
reduction in the background of new market realities," said Mr. Badal in a letter to the Prime Minister.

The SAD Chief pointed out that the costs of agricultural inputs have shown a major increase as a direct fall out of the inflationary pressures on the international oil market in recent months. He said that the government of India always used the slightest increase in crude prices as a pretext to hike the prices of agricultural inputs such as diesel, urea and some other petroleum based products. The farmers always had to bear the brunt of market
trends in oil prices. As a result, agriculture has become increasingly un-remunerative, putting a massive burden on the peasantry and a severe strain on farm economy in general.  Mr. Badal said that the reduction in diesel and fertilizer prices is the logical economic follow up to the fall in international prices because the prices had initially been hiked consequent upon the upward trends in these prices since July.

Badal said  that the farmers of Punjab had made the most remarkable sacrifices for ensuring food security for the country at a time when the international food situation had given rise to very serious apprehensions of an impending food crisis in the country. The government of India had given a challenger to the Punjab farmers to
provide 80 lakh Metric Tonnes of wheat to the national food kitty last season. The Punjab farmer responded to the challenge by turning in a record 100 lakh  metric tones. This, said  Badal, had resulted in a et saving of over Rs10,000 crore in foreign exchange for our country.

"The Union government owed a debt of gratitude to the Punjab farmers for this remarkable service to the nation. Instead of any encourage or rewards, the farmers had been made a  target of centre's discriminatory policies. Punjab got just one per cent of the Rs 25,000 crore Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna. This was shocking  considering
that Punjab had contributed more than 60 % to the national food stock.

A similar discriminatory attitude was also visible in the action of the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh gave a royal ignore to the Punjab farmers while announcing a massive relief to the farmers of Vidharbha and some southern states in the wake of farmers suicides, said Mr. Badal, adding that the continued indifference and neglect of the Punjab farmers can have very serious consequences for the future of national food security.

The Akali chief further said that a bonus of at least Rs. 300 should be announced by the centre immediately to compensate for the sudden and adverse market trends. "With the prices of every essential commodity registering a steep hike in the wake of inflationary pressures, the farmers purchase power and his net income has suffered major blows. The centre must come in with timely and well deserved relief measures to save the beleaguered peasantry," said Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal in his letter.