Govt failed to set up wheat procurement centres: Ex-MLC

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 1: Former MLC and senior Congress leader, Ravinder Sharma has said that the failure of the Government to set up wheat procurement centres and non- fixation of MSP for wheat has caused great loss to the farmers who are being exploited by the middlemen for selling their products on cheaper rates.
Sharma said that Government failed to set up procurement Mandi well in time at appropriate places in the state and fix a minimum support price for wheat as a result the farmers were compelled to sell their grains at very cheap rates to the middlemen. More than 80% farmers had no option but to sell the surplus production at cheap rates in order to repay their loans and to purchase seeds etc for variety of crops to be sown next.
He expressed concern over the neglect and casualness of Government towards Agriculture sector which is backbone of rural economy. Already the drastic fall of percentage of growth in agriculture sector to 2.9% is an alarming factor for the nation and economic distress in farming sector is due to wrong policies towards this important sector. The failure of Government to procurement of agriculture to ensure appropriate rates of products to farmers, is very unfortunate, he regretted.