MP Congress Protest: Wheat Procurement Delay

Indore, Apr 7 (PTI) The Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday announced a state-wide protest on April 9 on farmers' issues including the 'delay' in the procurement of wheat by the BJP government.



Madhya Pradesh is among the top wheat-producing states in the country.



Senior Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma said here that party activists will surround collector offices in all districts on April 9.

"The BJP has not fulfilled its election promises to farmers, and they are being forced to take to the streets. This is a brutal betrayal of farmers," said Verma, a former minister.



The BJP had promised procurement of wheat at Rs 2,700 per quintal, but this promise has not been fulfilled yet and only a bonus of Rs 40 per quintal has been announced, he claimed.

Due to the delay in wheat procurement, farmers could not repay their loans to banks and cooperative societies by the March 31 deadline and were included in the list of defaulters, the Congress leader said.



According to officials, the state government has decided to provide farmers a bonus of Rs 40 per quintal in addition to the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,585 per quintal, paying a total of Rs 2,685. The procurement will start from April 10, they said.