Stop cheating farmers–Sukhbir asks Center

Demands immediate withdrawl of fair and remunerative price ordinance
CHANDIGARH: Deputy Chief Minister Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal strongly opposed the Central Government’s promulgating Fair & Remunerative Price Ordinance.



In a statement, Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the Punjab Government had already fixed State Advisory Price (SAP) higher than the Fair & Remunerative Price announced by the Government of India but in view of the drought and shortfall in rains, farmers have mainly depended on diesel and incurred  extra cost for the sugarcane production.

Badal said, “ Instead of granting additional benefits and bonuses to the sugarcane farmers, the Central Government has promulgated an anti-farmers Ordinance which was not only arbitrary but absolutely unjustified and not tolerable’’.

Badal asked the Central Government as to why the state government should bear the difference. The Central Government on the one hand is jostling with the issue of inadequate production of sugarcane leading to inadequate production of sugar and is looking at imports, and sugar price in our domestic market has already reached Rs.40/-per kg, on the other hand, it is toying with ideas such as reducing the prices of sugarcane so that sugarcane would not be available to the sugar mills for crushing. In such a case, Badal said, sugarcane would be diverted to the illicit liquor and liquor industry. 

Deputy Chief Minister questioned the very rationale behind the idea of Fair & Remunerative Price Ordinance. He said that when sugar is the essential commodity and it is the duty of the Central Government to ensure that adequate sugar is available in the markets. Therefore Central Government should bring about such a legislation which effectively ensures that the farmers get additional bonuses and such bonuses to be borne by the Central Government because sugar is the domain of the Central Government.