The Punjab government’s repeated excuse of citing financial constraints for not being able to start procuring sunflowers under the minimum support price (MSP) scheme for farmers came under a scathing attack from the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday after it was observed that the state would require only some Rs 11 crore for procurement. The High Court rapped the Punjab government after its counsel said the state has a debit of nearly Rs 31,000 crore and were willing to start the procurement only after the central government gave some cash credit to implement the scheme.
“We are aghast that for the past two years, you are in a state of complete inaction. When people in villages say, ‘Sarkar kuch ni kardi (The government does nothing)’, they are justified. The agriculture department is the main department of Punjab. Why are you sleeping?” observed a division bench of the High Court during the resumed hearing of the case on MSP implementation in Punjab and Haryana.
The High Court bench, comprising Justice S S Saron and Justice Avneesh Jhingan, made these observations after it was informed that no study had been carried out on the production of the crop since 2015. “You are not ready to do anything and that is the problem. You cannot compel the Centre to give it subsidy. Where is your latest data of sunflower. Shall we appoint a commission for you to do it,” observed the division bench, calling the government action “shocking”.
The HC bench has asked the government to submit an affidavit on the projections and production of sunflower in the state after the government counsel could not produce even a single communication with the central government for the implementation of the scheme in the state. “You have done nothing after ‘15. All you have to do is just take the Haryana paper. You are not even able to copy it,” the bench observed.
News Source: http://indianexpress.com
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