Chandigarh: Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday criticised the Haryana govt for increasing the sugarcane price by just Rs 15 per quintal, calling it a “cruel joke” on farmers. He said the 3% hike was inadequate at a time when input costs and inflation were rising sharply.Comparing the BJP’s record with that of the previous Congress govt, Hooda said the Congress had raised the sugarcane price from Rs 117 to Rs 310 per quintal between 2005 and 2014, an increase of Rs 193 or 165% in nine-and-a-half years. In contrast, the BJP govt had increased the rate from Rs 310 to Rs 430 per quintal over 12 years, a rise of Rs 120 or 39%, he claimed.Hooda said the average annual increase under the Congress was around 18.3%, against 3.25% under the BJP, alleging that the Congress had raised sugarcane prices nearly six times faster.He also criticised the Centre for increasing the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat by just Rs 25 per quintal, or 25 paise per kg. Recalling the Congress govt’s 2006-07 decision to raise wheat prices from Rs 600 to Rs 850 per quintal, along with a separate bonus of Rs 100, he said farmers had received substantially better returns under the Congress.Hooda further claimed that crop prices had increased by an annual average of 14-15% under Congress rule, compared with around 5% under the BJP, while rising costs of fuel, fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, machinery and labour were squeezing farm incomes.
