AAP member Sandeep Kumar Pathak takes a dig at the Central government, accusing it of creating an 'artificial crisis' in Punjab by disturbing the state's eco-system, where the farmers, Arhtiyas (commission agent), and rice millers - all are facing losses.
"An artificial crisis has been created in Punjab in which farmers, Arhtiyas, and rice millers face loss," he said.
Speaking during Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha on the need to address issues of rice millers in Punjab, Pathak asked whether the process of procurement and storage has been standardised as per the crop season and if so, then why it was not followed.
As per the process, farmers sell their produce to the local mandi, from where it is procured by rice millers. After dehusking, it is sold to Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns, which then distribute it to state governments.
This time, during procurement of paddy, godowns of FCI were not emptied for fresh purchase. Moreover, rice millers had a stock of over 2 lakh tonnes of rice from the last season, which was not lifted.
"When you do not have space to store at godowns (FCI) and with rice millers, procurement would be hit," said the AAP leader adding this resulted in long queues by farmers, to sell their products in mandis.
Many of them sold crops at lower rates also fearing losses. This also resulted in a delay in the next crop for farmers, which in turn impacted the economy of the nation.
Moreover, earlier Arhtiyas used to get 2.5 per cent as commission and this has been now fixed at Rs 45,000. Rice millers also got impacted as they earned profit by selling byproducts from the dehusking process of rice.
"They tried to disturb the ecosystem of an agrarian state. Punjab government wrote seven letters in last six months but did not get any reply," he said.
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