Navjot Singh Sidhu buys vegetables to support farmers’ protest

CHANDIGARH: To express support for farmers’ 10-day protest against the Centre, Punjab local bodies’ minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday visited

Patto

village in Fatehgarh Sahib and bought milk and vegetables directly from a farmer.

Farmer unions across the country have decided to suspend supply of vegetables and milk to wholesale markets from June 1 to 10. Growers from different parts of Punjab have decided to join the ‘Kisan Avkash’ as well. The protest is to press for farmers’ demands of loan waiver and 50% profit margin over cost of production for crops in real terms.

Asked why he chose the farmhouse, Sidhu said its owner Harsharan Singh was a progressive farmer involved in organic farming. “This type of farming has many benefits and needs to be encouraged,” he said.

Criticising his former party BJP, Sidhu said that the report of Swaminathan Commission was not being implemented and the farmers were not getting adequate price for their crops leading to escalation in suicides by the farmers. MLAs Kuljit Singh Nagra and Gurpreet Singh GP accompanied Sidhu. They visited the farmhouse of farmer

Gursharan Singh

and made the purchase of milk and vegetables.

The three MLAs advocated higher minimum support price (MSP) for crops as per the oil prices. “During the past 25 years the oil prices have increased 12-fold whereas the

MSP

has only increased by 5%. When the price of petrol was Rs 20 per litre, the price of milk was Rs 16 per litre and now the price of petrol has risen to Rs 80 whereas the price of milk stands at Rs 45 per litre,” added sidhu.

Holding the Union government responsible for increasing oil prices, he said that by reducing the prices of oil by 1 paise, the Union government has played a cruel joke on the people of the country. He added that keeping oil out of GST ambit signifies the un-honourable intentions on the part of the Union government.

Sidhu also met Manjit Singh Dadiana from Farmers Safe Food, Avtar Singh, and Satvir Singh Baasian and appreciated their enterprise of organic farming.