Bhopal, March 31 – The opposition Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh engaged in a heated exchange over the state government's decision to reschedule the dates for wheat procurement at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
On Monday, the state government released a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), according to which procurement in the Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, and Narmadapuram divisions will now begin on April 10, instead of April 7.
Similarly, procurement in Jabalpur, Gwalior, Rewa, Shahdol, Chambal, and Sagar divisions, which was previously scheduled to begin on April 7, will now start a week later, on April 15.
This is the second time the state government has rescheduled the process. Initially, procurement was scheduled to begin on March 16, which was later postponed to April 1.
State Congress leaders criticised the BJP government's decision, alleging that the delays in procurement have distressed farmers, forcing them to sell their crops at lower rates in the market.
In a fresh attack on Tuesday, state Congress president Jitu Patwari said that many farmers were struggling to repay bank loans taken for agricultural purposes.
He alleged that further delays had forced them to sell their crops at lower rates to repay loans before March 31.
"After the March 31 deadline, approximately 40 per cent of farmers are on the verge of defaulting. But the government is rescheduling dates repeatedly. The failure to initiate procurement is forcing farmers to sell their crops below the MSP," he said.
Reacting to the allegations, state BJP Kisan Morcha head Jaipal Singh Chavda said that the Congress has never truly been a well-wisher of farmers.
Speaking to media persons in Bhopal, he explained that the ongoing conflict in West Asia had led to a shortage in the availability of polymers used in manufacturing polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethene (HDPE) bags, which are used for packaging grains.
He shared that the Centre had allocated an additional 50,000 bales of jute bags to Madhya Pradesh.
"The BJP government is committed to procuring every single wheat grain of farmers at Rs 2,625 per quintal," he added.