Hawk potatoes outside CM res instead of parliament to make Cong govt listen to plight of potato growers - Harsimrat Badal
Hawk potatoes outside CM res instead of parliament to make Cong govt listen to plight of potato growers - Harsimrat Badal
Union food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today asked Punjab Congress mps to hawk potatoes outside the residence of chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to make him see reason and intervene to help crisis hit potato growers of Punjab.
Hawk potatoes outside CM res instead of parliament to make Cong govt listen to plight of potato growers - Harsimrat Badal
Asking Pradesh Congress President Sunil Jakhar and other Congress mps’ not to resort to cheap photo ops.
Mrs Badal said in case they were really interested in coming to the aid of potato growers they should hold a protest outside the residence of Capt Amarinder instead of parliament.
Mrs. Badal said it seemed Jakhar and the other Congress mps were suffering from amnesia. “If this was not so they would remember that finance minister Manpreet Badal had announced formation of a Price Stabilisation Fund in the assembly whose purpose was to intervene in case of steep fall in food produce. The Congress government has forgotten about the Fund and is not lifting a single finger to help potato growers but Jakhar is holding a protest in Delhi instead of Punjab”.
Hawk potatoes outside CM res instead of parliament to make Cong govt listen to plight of potato growers - Harsimrat Badal
Asking Jakhar what was preventing the Congress government from announcing a relief package for potato growers, Mrs Badal said the government could also introduce potatoes in mid day meal and aata-daal schemes to end distress sale of potatoes at Rs 3 per kg against the production cost of Rs 6 to Rs 8 per kg. She said the government could also introduce freight and storage subsidies for potato growers on the pattern of the Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal governments. “Instead of doing all this Jakhar and company are trying to befool the people by making it appear as if the centre is not coming to the rescue of potato growers”, she added.
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The Union minister said this was not all. The Congress government was not even ready for any long term solutions to ensure value addition to food products, including potatoes . She said she was being prevented from inaugurating the Laddowali food park in Ludhiana because the Congress government was afraid that she and the SAD- BJP alliance would get credit for the same. “The Congress government has also shown total lack of interest in availing schemes initiated by the food processing ministry. In such a light it seems Congress mps’ are deliberately holding frivolous protests to deflect attention from their own failures”, Mrs Badal added.
-PTC NEWS