top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

CPFR seeks PM’s intervention

To lift anti-farmer curbs on MSP cotton procurement rules Mumbai : The Council for Protection of Farmers Rights-Kisan Bharti has demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to direct the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to rollback its restrictive cotton procurement rules hitting farmers in the state.   In an appeal to the PM, CPFR-Kisan Bharti President Barr. Vinod Tiwari said that the CCI’s recent move – to cap cotton procurement at only 7 quintals/acre, almost half of the earlier...

CPFR seeks PM’s intervention

To lift anti-farmer curbs on MSP cotton procurement rules Mumbai : The Council for Protection of Farmers Rights-Kisan Bharti has demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to direct the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to rollback its restrictive cotton procurement rules hitting farmers in the state.   In an appeal to the PM, CPFR-Kisan Bharti President Barr. Vinod Tiwari said that the CCI’s recent move – to cap cotton procurement at only 7 quintals/acre, almost half of the earlier limit of 13 quintals/acre – has heightened the agony among lakhs of cotton farmers in Maharashtra and adjoining Telangana.   “This bizarre slash in the limit, imposed after yield surveys conducted this Kharif season, has driven farmers to sell nearly 80 percent of the produce to private traders at very low prices. This has added to the already severe distress among farmlands,” Tiwari told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   In view of the cutbacks, farmers have no options but to dispose of their cotton stocks at around Rs 6500/quintal or lower, almost 25 pc below the MSP of Rs 8110/quintal.   The worst-affected are those tillers who produce more than 5 quintas/acre who cannot sell their full yield to CCI owing to the restrictions, and hence offload it to any private buyers at extremely low rates and much below the MSP.   “Worsening the crisis is the CCI’s rigid moisture-content requirements of 8-12 pc which is difficult to maintain. In view of the fog, intermittent rains, drop in winter temperatures, natural moisture levels in the cotton remains high. Despite drying it in the open for days, farmers report moisture levels at 20 pc or higher, and their stocks are rejected outright at CCI procurement centres,” explained Tiwari.   Citing examples, the CPFR-Kisan Bharti said in Yavatmal district alone, 236,752 farmers opted for cotton cultivation across 825,932 acres, yielding around 3.3 million quintals.   However, of this huge quantity, the CCI has procured barley 7,921 quintals and the private traders lapped up some 115,000 quintals at low rates – exposing the gaps between government promises vis-à-vis ground realities.   Farmers rued that the CCI’s impossible regulations are directly pushing them into the trap of private traders, who bargain hard to get the cotton stocks at cheap rates.   The CPFR-Kisan Bharti said that of the 27 procurement centres announced by CCI, barely a handful are operating, leading to long queues, increased transportation costs and logistical chaos for the already harassed farmers.   “Our demand is to increase the procurement to at least 12 quintals/acre, relax the moisture content limits to 22 pc owing to the natural hazards and open more procurement centres to quicken the process,” said Tiwari.   Since the CCI is the nodal agency for MSP procurement, it is expected to protect the farmers’ interest rather than penalizing them for things beyond their control, hence the PM must immediately direct the CCI to do the needful help the farmers before they resort to extreme measures, he urged.

Pakistan Army violates ceasefire after mine blast along LoC in J-K's Poonch

  • PTI
  • Apr 2
  • 2 min read

ree

Jammu, Apr 2 (PTI) Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing after a mine exploded along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said on Wednesday.


He said the Indian army responded effectively to the ceasefire violation and continues to dominate the LoC where the situation is under control.


Official sources said the violation took place at 1.10 pm on Tuesday.


While the Indian Army made no mention of any casualty on the Pakistan side, the sources said five enemy soldiers were injured in the explosion and the subsequent firing between the two sides.


¿On 01 Apr 2025, a mine blast occurred in Krishna Ghati Sector while the Pakistan Army was patrolling along the LoC. This was followed by unprovoked firing and ceasefire violation by Pakistan Army," Jammu-based defence PRO Lt Col Suneel Bartwal said in a revised statement.


"Own troops responded effectively. The Indian Army continues to dominate the LoC. The situation is under control," he said.


The earlier statement had mentioned that "a mine blast occurred in Krishna Ghati Sector due to Pakistan Army intrusion across LoC".


On February 21, India and Pakistan military held a flag meeting along the LoC in Poonch district in an effort to de-escalate tension after several incidents of cross-border firing and an IED attack.


The brigade-commander level flag meeting, lasting 75 minutes, had taken place in the Chakkan-Da-Bagh crossing point area with both sides highlighting the need to maintain peace along the borders.


The ceasefire violations along the borders of Jammu and Kashmir have been rare since the two countries renewed an agreement on February 25, 2021. However, several incidents were reported on the LoC in Poonch-Rajouri sector in February.


Two Indian Army personnel, including a captain, were killed and another injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack carried out by suspected terrorists in the Akhnoor sector of the Jammu region on February 11.


Two army personnel were also injured in separate incidents of small arms firing from across the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts, while two more army personnel were injured in separate landmine explosions in Poonch in February.

Comments

bottom of page