Search
Home / India / Govt ready to talk to farmers but they have to use logic, says Tomar Govt ready to talk to farmers but they have to use logic, says Tomar Agriculture minister assures of listening and finding a solution to objections
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday said the government is ready to resume talks with protesting farmers but asked the unions to point out their objections to the provisions of the three farm laws with sound logic.
The government and unions have held 11 rounds of talks, the last being on January 22, to break the deadlock and end the farmers protest. Talks have not resumed following widespread violence during a tractor rally by protesting farmers on January 26.
New Delhi, April 8
Punjab farmers are all set to get direct payment for their crop this procurement season after the Centre on Thursday rejected the state’s demand for continuation of payment through arhtiyas and exemption from the direct benefit transfer (DBT) system.
The Centre, however, agreed to give the state six-month extension to integrate land records with the national e-procurement portal.
Left with no choice
The Centre argues that the food stocks belong to it and the state is just an agent. We have no other choice. We will find a mechanism to ensure some protection to arhtiyas. Manpreet Badal, Punjab Finance Minister
Tribune News ServicePatiala, April 4
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday said that Food Minister Piyush Goyal was a “liar” and if his letter to Punjab Chief Minister u
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking continuance of the existing system of payment to farmers for crop procurement till a consensus is evolved on the issue of direct benefit transfer.
NEW DELHI: The Food Corporation of India (FCI) under the central government has helped the Punjab government tide over a crisis which would have hit wheat procurement scheduled to start from April 10, by lifting 22.42 million tonnes of the foodgrain held with the state agencies since 2018-19. Failure to clear the stock would have come in the way of the Punjab government to take advance loans from banks to pay the MSP to farmers for the fresh procurment.
In Punjab, farmers sell their foodgrains to five state procuring agencies (SPAs) and they pay the money to farmers. Later this amount is reimbursed by FCI. To pay the amount to farmers immediately, these state agencies take advance loan from an SBI-led consortium of banks. As per rules, this Food Credit advance has to be repaid within three years. But the Punjab government could not pay the loan of Rs 89,000 crore from 2018-19 as the stock was still to be lifted.