Holds talks on national policy draft on agriculture: Punjab minister

Chandigarh, Dec 16 (IANS) Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Monday held deliberations with officers on the draft of the national policy framework on agricultural marketing and decided to call a meeting with farmers and other stakeholders within this week.

Khudian, along with Additional Chief Secretary Anurag Verma, Chairman of Punjab State Farmers’ and Farm Workers’ Commission Sukhpal Singh, Secretary of the Punjab Mandi Board, Ramvir, asked the department officials to call a meeting with representatives of farmers, agriculture experts and other stakeholder immediately to analyse and consult on the draft policy shared by the Central Government.

He further said that the draft policy needs thorough analysis and consultation with stakeholders as it could have serious implications for the state and its farmers.

He said the Agriculture Department has already shot a letter to S.K. Singh, Deputy Agriculture Marketing Adviser and Convener of the Drafting Committee of the Central Government to give at least three-week time to send comments on the draft policy.

Reaffirming the Bhagwant Singh Mann-led state government’s unwavering stand for the betterment and welfare of the state farmers, the Agriculture Minister directed the officials to conduct an in-depth study of the draft policy to ensure that not a single point should be left unconsidered, which could further prove to be dearer to the farming community in the short run or in the future.

He also asked the officials concerned to lay a special focus on concerning issues such as minimum support price (MSP), market fee to further strengthen the Mandi Board in general and the state’s agriculture marketing infrastructure in specific, besides ensuring a safe environment that can safeguard farmers’ interests from big corporates.

The high-level meeting was also attended by Director (Agriculture) Jaswant Singh, Head of the Department of Economic and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Jitender Mohan Singh and senior officials of the Mandi Board and the Agriculture Department.

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