SAD welcomes wheat MSP hike

Shiromani Akali Dal Wednesday welcomed the decision of the Union cabinet to hike the minimum support price of wheat by Rs 105 per quintal to Rs 1,840 per quintal.

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal also described the decision to raise MSP by Rs 105 as a "positive gesture" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to farmers, particularly of Punjab which is a major wheat growing state.

In a statement here, former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal said the decision reflects the Prime Minister's concern for farmers.

He said that the peasantry in the country was going through an extreme crisis and needed the nation to come to its aid.

"Far from being a lucrative profession which it once was, farming has become a sure guarantee for indebtedness and bankruptcy. This needs to change if the countrymen are to remain secure from the scourge of famines. The costs of inputs have been rising and it requires a corresponding hike in the prices of farm products especially foodgrains and vegetables," said Badal.

Badal said that the state government in Punjab should try to emulate the SAD-BJP government which had initiated path-breaking measures to help farmers such as free power to the farm sector, major hike in compensation for damage to crops, farm insurance policies and special assistnce to farmers the border belt. "The present government is obsessed with its hatred of the opposition and has no time for the people, especially none for the farmers," he said.

SAD president Sukhbir SIngh Badal thanked the Prime Minister for announcing the "positive and meaningful" hike in the MSP.

Sukhbir said that this would lighten the burden of the farmers to some extent.

The Cabinet has approved a Rs 105 per quintal hike in the minimum support price of wheat to Rs 1,840 per quintal for 2018-19 season.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)