Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 14: Harsh Dev Singh, chairman JKNPP and former Minister today alleged that despite J&K having been declared a Union Territory and its administration being run through the agencies of GoI, the discriminatory policies against Jammu region have continued unabated and appear to have been adopted as a practice.
While pointing towards the alleged disregard of Jammu’s farmers vis-à-vis the Kashmir orchardists, Harsh Dev said that only recently an order was issued by the Government fixing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Kashmiri apples by introducing Market Invention Scheme (MIS) without effecting any corresponding increase in the support prices of any of the crops produced by Jammu region farmers.
Singh pointed out that on September 5, the Union Government had announced that for the first time NAFED will be involved for procuring 13 lac metric tons of apple from Kashmir at a cost of Rs. 5,000 crores. This was followed by yet another announcement by Union Finance Minister, at a conference on rural and agricultural Finance, directing NABARD to ensure fair remunerative prices for the crops of farmers of Kashmir. While urging the Chairman, NABARD to ensure that Kashmir farmers produce was marketed all over the country, the Union Finance Minister gave strict instructions for ensuring fair prices to Valley farmers for cash crops including Saffron, Peaches and Walnut.
The Jammu farmers however, particularly the Basmati growers who had been seeking identical relief and fixation of adequate MSP for their produce continued to be ignored and disregarded, regretted Singh. He divulged that the farmers of R.S Pura/border belt raising tradition Basmati crop over 45,000 hectors of land extending from Akhnoor area to Samba have been facing acute financial crisis in view of uneconomical rates of return for their produce in the open market. “Border tensions and frequent Pak shelling has aggravated their woes with a hapless and apathetic Government least bothered about the concerns of these nationalist people. The value of their produce which ranged from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 3,500 per quintal has come down to Rs. 1,500 to 2,000 per quintal which does not suffice to meet even their costs thus forcing these farmers to starvation with Government playing a mute spectator to their woes”, lamented Singh.
Seeking fixation of MSP for Basmati and opening channels for its sale outside the State Singh said that Government should take immediate measures to promote the world famous traditional Basmati of Dogra land.
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