Meet Hayer tears apart Union Government in parliament for completely forgetting Punjab farmers in Budget

Chandigarh/New Delhi(The Uttam Hindu): Lok Sabha Member from Sangrur Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, while speaking on Agricultural sector in Parliament today, severely castigated the Union Government for completely forgetting Punjab farmers in the Agriculture budget and said that the BJP hates the people of Punjab to such an extent that it did not even mention Punjab with regard to Agriculture sphere.

Demanding the guarantee of MSP for farmers and demanded immediate release of Rs. 8500 Crore from Punjab's Rural Development Fund (RDF), Meet Hayer also called for the immediate cancellation of the anti-farmer India-US trade agreement.

The MP from Sangrur said that two days were allotted to speak on Railways in Parliament but only a short time was allotted for discussion on Agriculture, thus

making the intentions of the Union Government quite clear.

The Agriculture budget includes other states but Punjab, which feeds the entire country, has not found mention even once and this has been the case for the last 13 years. Punjab has only 1.5 per cent of its area but contributes 18 per cent to the country's wheat pool and 12 per cent to the country's rice pool.

Thus, Punjab lost its fertile soil and groundwater and not only this but due to the use of fertilisers, Punjab became a cancer home. The border State had to pay a heavy price for the Green Revolution, said Meet Hayer.

Carrying his attack right into the ranks of treasury benches, Meet Hayer lashed out at the Union Government and said that the Union Government has refused as well as utterly failed to double the income of farmers and guarantee the minimum support price of every crop. He said that to take Punjab out of the wheat and rice crop cycle, Punjab should be given a special package for crop diversification.

Describing the India-US trade agreement as an anti farmer sell out, the Lok Sabha Member divulged that in the USA, farmers get an average subsidy of Rs 27 lakh and in India, it is only Rs.6,000. How can our farmers compete like this?, asked the MP and averred that such an anti trade agreement should be cancelled.

Raising the issue of the Union Government's anti-Punjab attitude, Meet Hayer disclosed that the Centre has deliberately withheld Rs. 8500 Crore of Punjab's RDF share.

He further added that due to the mistakes of the previous Congress Government, the then Chief Minister of that government, Captain Amarinder Singh, is in the BJP today. Why should the current Punjab Government should bear the cost of the mistakes of the BJP leader, questioned the Member of Parliament also raising the issue of the inadequate raise in the commission of the arhtiyas.