Ex MLA and Secretary of the Congress Rohit Thakur has accused the BJP government of handing out a raw deal to fruit growers. He said that BJP had failed to increase the support price for procurement of apple under the market intervention scheme (MIS) over the past four years, providing a glaring example of its anti-growers attitude.
Rohit Thakur said blamed that with the sharp increase in the cost of various farm inputs, the cost production had more than doubled, but the government had not bothered to revise the procurement price under the MIS. As a result, growers were reeling under financial stress and demanded that the support price should be increased significantly to provide relief to growers.
He also criticised the lackluster preparation from the Govt for the coming apple harvesting season, he said that season was just 20 days away, but the government had failed to improve the condition of the Theog-Hatkoti road that continued to be in a deplorable state. He said that in the last four year, Apple Growers has lost their hard earned money to this road and this year it seems that same fate will remain. He also tried to draw attention to the various link roads as they were no better as well and growers would face problems if the government failed to repair these before the onset of rains.
