Haryana chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today warned the centre he may take a drastic step like sitting on dharna in Taraori mandi along with the faremers if the central government did not take immediate measures to ensure better prices for rice to the farmers. In an open dialogue with the farmers of Taraori and Guhla Cheeka today, Hooda attacked the central government on the fall in prices of Basmati rice and cotton and the increase in the price of diesel, bonus issue of the farmers and the problems of farmers suffering due to drought.
Addressing a public meeting in Taraori and later at Guhla Cheeka today, Hooda said he could not see the farmers suffer as a result of the low prices of their produce, especially rice. He said he was ready to launch a struggle with the farmers on their just demands for better price of rice.
Earlier Hooda had written a letter to the Centre to remove ban on rice export due to which the farmers were not getting good price.Hooda made a scathing attack on former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala on the issue of his various omissions and commissions. Hooda said he had come to Taraori to seek votes in favour of Congress candidate Gyan Chand Sahota. ``You select him your MLA and if he does not work for you, please tell me. He said all those joining the Congress today will be given full respect and honour.The chief Minister said in the last 10 years of the Congress rule in UPA and Haryana a great deal of development had taken place. Farmers in Haryana too had benefitted a great deal and the rate of interest on crop loan, which used to be 11 to 14 per cent before he came to power was reduced to just 4 per cent now and in future even this will not be charged.The UPA government had ensured Right to Food, Right to Education, MGNREGA, etc. Under the Right to Food scheme around 1.26 crore people in Haryana were the beneficiaries. Twenty lakh families in Haryana were the beneficiary of Rs 2 per kg wheat and Rs 3 per kg rice per month.
Hooda said the Haryana government will pay the banks subsidy on behalf of the farmers’ loan interest liability, while the faremrs will not have to pay any interest on their crop loan at all. Hooda challenged the Indian National Lok Dal and the BJP to show a single good measure they had done for the welfare of the farmers and other section of society. ``I will quit this election if the INLD and the BJP prove they worked for the welfare of the people. Hooda asked the people whether or not the farmers were better off today, whether villages had been developed on not? He said his government had worked for the welfare of all section of people, including students, women, children, aged, farmers and others. He said the government had also waived off their pending electricity bills worth crores of rupees. Hooda said more than 3.83 lakh poor people in Haryana had been given 100 square years of plot and .
More than 10 lakh water connections had been given to the poor families. Today Haryana stands at number one position in the country, while the state was on number 14 position 10 years ago.He said during the Om Prakash Chautala regime the aged were getting just Rs 200 pension, but the Congress government is paying Rs 1000 per month pension to the aged and from November 1 they will be paid Rs 1500 per month. This means a family of two aged people in the family will get Rs 36,000 per year. This amount is equal to the money a farmer can get by giving two acres of his land on contract for a year.The Chief Minister said he had come to Taraori today to seek votes for the Congress candidate Gyan Chand Sahota. He said he was seeking blessings of the people in favour of Sahota and the Congress.
Talking about late Chaudhary Devi Lal, Hooda said he too respected him a lot, but was pained to see how his successors had forgotten his ideals and were making false promises to the people of Haryana. Hooda said the BJP had failed to live up to its promise of bringing `ache din’ for the people and today even essential food items like potato, tomato and onion had gone sky high. The BJP government had also increased diesel price and rail fare and was going to increase gas price by Rs 10 per month. The farmers and people in general in the country were suffering a great deal as a result.Some farmers present at the meeting shouted slogan, ``Hooda tere raaj mein, jeeri gaiu jahaz mein,’’. Many farmers shouted slogans against the INLD and the BJP, ``Bhajpa Inelo tere raj mein, jeerin gai byaj mein aur parli gai lihaz mein. This drew laughter from the farmers present on the occasion.Hooda also visited the mandis at Taraori and Guhla Cheeka and talked to the arhtis who talked about their problems.