The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 28

The International News Weekly INDIA
January 12, 2018 | Toronto 12
Punjab farmers in distress as potato prices fall
By Saurabh Katkurwar
JALANDHAR: Even as a
new harvesting season has
begun, Punjab's farmers
are staring at bleak prospects
with potato prices,
that had hit rock-bottom
last year, not showing
signs of returning to previous
levels.
About 10 per cent of the
current season's total harvest
has been sold and the
prices have stuck somewhere
between Rs 150 and
Rs 300 per quintal, according
to the Punjab Horticulture
Department. Farmers
are apprehensive about
the remuneration this year
too, though the production
is expected to be higher
owing to favourable climatic
conditions. About 80
per cent of the harvest in
Punjab comes during the
peak season of February
and March.
Potato prices had
slumped to just Rs 10 for a
bag of 100 kg (one quintal)
last year, leaving farmers
in tears -- and most of them
chose to throw their produce
on the roads to rot.
According to the Punjab
government, production
this year is expected to
be over 2.5 million tonnes.
"If the weather is congenial
and potato plants
are not infected by the
blight, overall yield will be
good. Currently the rates
are not good, I heard," Gulab
Singh Gill, Deputy Director
(Horticulture) told
IANS.
What concerns the
farmers more is uncertainty
over remunerative prices
for their harvest when it
hits the market during the
peak season, said Gurinder
Singh Kang, a potato
grower from Jalandhar's
Lallian Kalan village.
"There is neither much
fog nor initiation of blight
disease. The climate is
quite favorable for optimum
output. However,
there is an apprehension
among farmers and traders
whether they will get a
fair price as current rates
are at below Rs 3 for a kg,"
Kang said.
Despite the fall in prices
last year, land under
potato cultivation has increased
this year as farmers
used a certain amount
of the unsold crop for sowing.
"It is not just the decline
in consumption or
rise in production that led
to the price drop, but several
policy-related reasons
such as demonetisation,
high tax rate for cold storage,
lack of export facilities
are also responsible,"
an official of the Jalandhar
Potato Growers Association
(JPCA) said.
"It is like multi-organ
failure. After demonetisation,
traders have become
hesitant to procure any
agricultural produce in
excess. Earlier, we had to
pay 14 per cent tax for cold
storage but post-GST it has
become 28 per cent," said
JPGA Secretary Jagat Gill
Thamanwal.
"Also, there are no facilities
for exports. Punjab
is land-locked and exports
to Pakistan are banned via
the Wagah border. As the
sea route is not cost-effective,
our superior potato
crop fails in the competition,"
Thamanwal added.
Thus, farmers had
thrown about 80 per cent of
their crop on the roads due
to the drastic fall in prices
last year.
It is not just the potato
growers who have been
hurt but the vibrant seed
industry has also been
significantly impacted,
claimed JPCA President
Gururaj Nijjar.
Stop touching my feet:
Himachal CM
Former BJP MP rejoins Congress
Agencies
Agencies
SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram
Thakur asked party workers and visitors to shun the
practice of touching his feet and offering garlands to him.
On Saturday, Thakur told the party workers to discourage
the visitors from bringing shawls, garlands, bouquets
or mementoes as it involves wastage of money.
Instead of bringing a bouquet, a visitor can present
a flower to him, an official in the Chief Minister's Office
told IANS.
Thakur's directive came after an octogenarian visitor
tried to touch his feet at a recent event.
The Chief Minister remarked: "It's the duty of the
state to respect each and every individual. No individual
should touch my feet or that of my ministers. We have to
show respect in heart."
Thakur's office has asked people to contribute generously
towards the Chief Minister's Relief Fund instead of
buying bouquets and garlands.
During one of his 'Mann ki Baat' programmes last
year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that people
should gift useful stuff like books or handkerchiefs to
him rather than bouquets.
MUMBAI: In a homecoming
of sorts, former Maharashtra BJP
MP Nana F. Patole has rejoined
the Congress, a month after quitting
his Lok Sabha membership
from Bhandara-Gondiya, it was announced
on Thursday.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi
formally welcomed Patole into
the party in the presence of stare
Maharashtra Congress President
Ashok Chavan and Leader of Opposition
in Maharashtra Assembly
Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil among
others.
A party leader here said he
is likely to contest the next Lok
Sabha elections from the same
constituency in Vidarbha region
of eastern Maharashtra as a Congress
candidate.
Elected on a Bharatiya Janata
Party ticket in the 2014 parliament
elections, Patole had given a shock
defeat to Nationalist Congress Party
strongman and former union
minister Praful Patel.
While Patole rode on the wave
of farmers' angst against the erstwhile
UPA government to win the
Lok Sabha elections, he later rebelled
and became a bitter critic
of the ruling BJP-led NDA, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, and
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra
Fadnavis for ignoring the
cause of the farmers and going
back on their pre-poll promises.
Finally, on the eve of the recent
Gujarat assembly elections,
he quit the BJP and his Lok Sabha
membership on December 8, and
bided his time amidst speculation
he would return to the Congress.
Crime in Indian capital rises by 12 % in 2017
Agencies
NEW DELHI: A total of
2,23,075 cases of crime
were reported in the national
capital in 2017, up
from 1,99,110 in 2016 -- a 12
per cent rise, according
to Delhi Police's annual
report released on Thursday.
Speaking to the media
at the Delhi Police's
annual press conference,
Commissioner of Delhi
Police Amulya Patnaik
said: "Number of crimes
in Delhi under all the major
heads have shown a
declining trend except 6
per cent increase in motor
vehicle thefts and 47
per cent rise in other theft
cases, clearly reflecting
fairness of registration of
such offences."
"In all, 2,23,075 cases
were registered under the
provisions of Indian Penal
Code (IPC) during the
year, as against 1,99,110
in 2016. The yardstick of
crime per lakh of polpulation,
which is used worldwide
to compare crime
rate, has been applied.
Total crimes per lakh of
population during the
year were 1,263 in comparison
to 1,137 in 2016,"
Patnaik said.
Citing reasons for
increase in the number
of crimes, Patnaik said
mandatory registration of
FIRs, including those for
missing children, as per
directions of the Supreme
Court, added to the list.
"Besides, the Delhi
Police also launched mobile
and web applications
through which public
can easily lodge FIRs online
for the theft of motor
vehicles and other such
properties without visiting
police stations."
As per the Delhi Police
report, over the last
five years, the number of
crime cases has seen increase
every subsequent
year, i.e it was 460.75 for
every per lakh population
in 2013, 881.04 in 2014,
1,058.68 in 2015, 1,137.21 in
2016 and 1,263.43 in 2017.
However, as per the
date in report, fewer
crimes of serious nature
took place in 2017 as compared
to the previous
year, the report suggests.