Chandigarh, Mar 30 (PTI) Haryana Congress MLAs will visit ‘mandis’ across the state to understand the difficulties faced by farmers in wheat and mustard procurement, and to lend them support.
The decision was taken at a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting held in Delhi under the chairmanship of former chief minister and the current Leader of the Opposition, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, according to a party statement.
Newly elected Rajya Sabha MP Karamvir Boudh was also present.
At the meeting, various issues concerning the state were discussed in detail.
It was also decided that the party would conduct district-level meetings in May.
The party has also resolved to submit a written complaint to the Election Commission against the returning officer of the recently concluded Rajya Sabha elections, “citing the wrongful cancellation of votes cast by Congress MLAs”.
“The matter regarding the cancellation of votes will also be taken up in the high court here,” it said.
The Haryana Congress had earlier alleged that Returning Officer Pankaj Aggarwal IAS acted in a partisan manner.
Aggarwal, while denying the allegations, had told PTI over the phone that he performed his task as per rules and instructions.
Polling for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana was held on May 16, in which BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia won one seat, while Congress candidate Karamvir Singh Boudh secured the other in a close contest against Independent candidate Satish Nandal.
After the polls, Congress named five of its MLAs who allegedly cross-voted and issued show-cause notices to them.
Besides, of the five votes declared invalid, four were reportedly cast by Congress legislators.
At the CLP meeting in Delhi, Haryana Congress president Rao Narender Singh said a disciplinary committee meeting on the cross-voting issue is scheduled on April 3.
On farmers’ issues, Hooda said at the meeting, “It has become the standard practice and policy of the BJP to devise new ways to harass farmers on every occasion. They have done so once again”.
“This time, a new rule has been introduced for wheat procurement, which requires not only the biometric verification of farmers but also photographs of their tractor licence plates.
“Moreover, to verify a farmer’s identity, as many as three guarantors are required now. It is as if the mandi was not a grain market, but a high-security zone or prison,” Hooda remarked.
He alleged that instead of ensuring prompt and complete procurement of wheat, the government is constantly devising tactics to create hurdles in the procurement process.
“The rule mandating biometric verification and the issuance of gate passes right at the entry gate is practically impossible to implement. This is because farmers belong to a hardworking class, and as a result, the fingerprints of many farmers become worn down. Often, even at banks, their fingerprints fail to match or take a considerable amount of time to verify,” he stated.
“Under these circumstances, if this same procedure is carried out at the mandi gates, it will lead to long queues of tractors, causing traffic congestion. Most farmers arrive at the mandi in rented tractors. If the procurement process is delayed due to traffic jams or verification delays, who will bear the cost of the tractor rental? Evidently, this financial burden will fall upon the farmers, causing further economic loss to those who are already steeped in debt,” he added.
Hooda also drew the government’s attention to the overall management of the mandis, pointing out that they lack even basic necessities such as gunny bags and tarpaulins. PTI SUN RUK RUK
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