Chandigarh, Oct 1 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday described the government's order deferring paddy procurement as a "cruel joke" on farmers.
Many farmers have already brought their produce to mandis in the state, so the government should now tell them "what to do with this crop and where to take it", the senior Congress leader said.
"The government had itself announced that procurement would start from September 25, after this, the start of procurement was shifted to October 1 and now the purchase has been postponed till October 11," the former chief minister said in a statement here.
Hooda said that the farmers are facing the brunt of the weather on one hand and the government's shifting policies on the other.
"Due to excessive rains, the standing crop got ruined and now the farmers have to face the delay (in procurement). The weather still remains a challenge for the farmers who are sitting with paddy under the open sky in the market. There is a constant danger that the paddy crops may be damaged if it rains, he said.
"Farmers are being looted by private agencies as they wait for government procurement to start because many are left with no other option but to sell their crops below MSP (minimum support price). The government should start procurement without any further delay and compensate the farmers who have sold the crop at a rate less than the MSP, he demanded.
The former chief minister again raised the demand for compensation for the damage caused to crops due to excessive rains and said most of the farmers have not received compensation for the last several seasons.
The Centre on Thursday postponed procurement of Kharif paddy in Punjab and Haryana till October 11 as the crop maturity is delayed owing to recent heavy rains.
Crop procurement is undertaken by the central government's nodal agency Food Corporation of India along with state agencies.
