CHANDIGARH: On the eve of introduction of a state Bill in Punjab Assembly to negate 'anti-farmer' central farm laws, cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday slammed his own party's government in the state for its crop procurement model and "lack" of storage and marketing ability. Coming out of political hibernation after quite some time, he also flayed the central government by accusing it of handing over agriculture sector to the capitalists whom, he said, it wanted to rule.
Favouring continuation of the minimum support price, the Congress leader said that the (state) government should procure lentils, oilseeds, vegetables and fruits also. On his YouTube channel to make a connect with the people, Sidhu said: "Today, Punjab does not have a government procurement model for any other crop apart from wheat and rice." "Neither, do we have storage capacity nor the marketing ability."
"Today, the central foodgrain warehouses are empty. They will buy our rice this year, our wheat next year. Then what after that? Our timeline for preparation is just 1-3 years."
Slamming the Centre for bringing the 'anti-farmer' farm laws, the former Minister said: "Today, they are handing over agriculture to the capitalist, when the manufacturing and service sectors are in losses. They want the crony capitalist should rule. They will come and rule us like the East India Company." (IANS)
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