Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to immediately recall two ministers of the Maharashtra government, who are currently on a 15-day "junket abroad as a part of legislative delegation led by the Speaker to Australia, New Zealand and Singapore."
Maharashtra's Agriculture Minister Pandurang Phundkar and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Girish Bapat are part of the delegation led by Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagde. Legislators across political parties are part of the tour organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
In his letter to PM Modi, Chavan wrote: "In response to your appeal for increasing pulses production, farmers of Maharashtra responded with a record production of tur (arhar) dal. Sadly, the government procurement system has badly let them down. Tur producing farmers are agitating for procurement at MSP (minimum support price) throughout the Vidarbha and marathwada regions. The number of farmer suicides is rising."
Requested PM @narendramodi to immediately recall Maha Agri & PDS ministers, who are on a junket while farmers are dying. @Dev_Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/63A8KnODHJ
— Prithviraj Chavan (@prithvrj) May 5, 2017
Chavan added that it was appalling to see that instead of personally attending to this crisis, the Agriculture Minister along with the Food and Public Distribution Minister of Maharashtra have gone abroad.
"It is appalling that the two ministers directly responsible for handling the current farm crisis have gone on a 15-day junket along with their family. The timing could not be worse. Farmers in the state are shocked," he added.
Chavan, in his letter to the Prime Minister, also wrote: "I am sure you are aware that as per rules of business, specific sanctions from the Chief Minister and the PMO is mandatory before any minister of the state government is permitted to travel abroad. Surely, these two ministers have obtained prior permission before leaving."
The former CM of Maharashtra requested PM Modi "to ask the Chief Minister to immediately recall these two ministers back to their duty. The legislative delegation led by the Speaker can continue on their visit. I am sure you will appreciate the seriousness of the matter and take appropriate steps."
This letter comes in the backdrop of protests going on in several parts of Maharashtra over the procurement of tur dal. Farmers in the state have been facing a crisis due to record production of the commodity and resultant low prices, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. Chavan posted the letter on Twitter and also tagged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
On May 2, Fadnavis had asked the concerned officials to complete the procurement of tur on war footing within five to six days by working in two shifts. The government also decided to call for a global tender to auction tur, PTI reported.
At least 40 lakh quintal tur worth Rs 1,839 crore, produced by 2,58,341 farmers was procured by Maharashtra at Rs 5,050 till April 22. It included a bonus of Rs 425.
