Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that the ruling BJP government should file a contempt of court case instead of holding another meeting on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) issue. According to him, such meetings won’t help Haryana receive its rightful share of water.
Reacting to the proposed meeting on SYL, Hooda said the BJP government must go beyond symbolic actions, as the Supreme Court had ruled in Haryana’s favour a long time ago.
“The court had given the responsibility of providing Haryana's share of water to the central government. There is a BJP government both in Haryana and at the center. In such a situation, Haryana should have got its share of water by now. But due to BJP's anti-Haryana attitude, this could not happen. Now if the government is talking about it, then it should directly file a contempt of court case,” he said.
Responding to journalists’ questions, Hooda also criticised the BJP government for once again failing to provide timely fertilizers to farmers.
“Once again, farmers are forced to leave their farms and work and stand in never-ending long queues. Due to non-availability of DAP, farmers are wandering around helplessly and there is a threat of damage to the crops,” he stated.
Expressing concern over the DAP shortage, Hooda stated that ever since the BJP came to power in Haryana, farmers have been struggling for MSP, fertilizers, and seeds.
“Farmers are facing double the brunt of the BJP's double-engine government both at the Centre and in the state. Less than half the stock of fertilizers to be received by Haryana from the Centre for Kharif crop has been supplied. Haryana was supposed to get about 14 lakh metric tonnes of fertilizers, but the situation clearly shows that not even half the fertilizers have been made available yet,” he pointed out.
“That is why despite waiting in queues from morning to evening, farmers are having to return empty-handed. Every time during the season, the government deliberately creates a situation that farmers are forced to take to the streets and protest and even small children and women of the family have to stand in queues. BJP is the only government in the history of the state, during whose tenure fertilizers have to be distributed under police protection. Due to the mismanagement of the government, farmers have to suffer black marketing and loss in production,” he added.
Hooda further said that while farmers are anxious about the next crop season due to fertilizer shortages, they are also hurt by not receiving Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops like maize and sunflower.
“Farmers who have brought maize and sunflower to the mandis are waiting for purchase, but government agencies are not ready to buy. Therefore, they have to sell the crop at a rate of Rs 1000-1500 below MSP,” he stated.
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