Congress workers protest over delay in wheat crops procurement in MP

Bhopal, April 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Congress workers, on Friday, held a massive protest over multiple delays in the beginning of procurement of wheat crops under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in Madhya Pradesh, alleging that delay (in procurement) was forcing farmers to sell their produce to middle-persons at low prices.

A large number of Youth Congress workers along with local party leaders on Friday blocked a National Highway in Shujalpur in Shajapur district, resulting in long queues of vehicles and causing significant traffic disruption for several hours.

Due to the blockade of the National Highway, the movement of all vehicles -- with the exception of emergency vehicles such as ambulances -- came to a complete standstill from morning to afternoon.

Upon receiving information about the incident, a heavy police force arrived at the site and dispersed protesters using water cannons with the assistance of the fire brigade.

According to information, police have detained more than two dozen Congress workers, including a couple of local Congress MLAs.

All detainees were taken to a nearby police station.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress President Jitu Patwari said on Friday that the state government did not send a proposal to the Centre for adequate gunny bags to be used for packing of wheat crops after procuring directly from farmers at the government-run mandis.

"The state government has sent a proposal for 2.60 crore gunny bags against the requirement of nearly 10 crores to Central agencies. This shortfall highlights the state government's negligence," Patwari added during a press conference in Bhopal.

The Congress leader also said that the state government is required to submit a timely requisition to the Centre based on its specific requirements for gunny bags, and allocations are subsequently made based on requisition and an advance payment.

"However, the state government neither submitted a requisition for an adequate quantity in a timely manner nor made the requisite payments on time, resulting in a severe shortage of gunny bags," Patwari alleged.

The procurement of wheat at the MSP for the Rabi Marketing Year 2026–27 in Madhya Pradesh, which was scheduled to begin from April 1, has now been rescheduled from April 10 in Ujjain, Bhopal, Indore and Narmadapuram divisions.

Similarly, the procurement process in the remaining divisions -- Rewa, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Shahdol, Chambal, and Sagar -- from April 7, will commence from April 15.

This is the second time the state government has rescheduled the process.

"Earlier, procurement was scheduled to begin on March 16, which was later deferred to April 1," according to an official statement on March 31.

Notably, wheat procurement in the state will be carried out at a rate of Rs 2,625 per quintal, including an additional bonus of Rs 40 per quintal for farmers.

More than 19,04,651 farmers have registered for wheat procurement at the MSP during the Rabi Marketing Season 2026–27.

Madhya Pradesh is among the country's leading wheat-producing states.

This year, the state government has announced an MSP of Rs 2,625 per quintal, including a bonus of Rs 40 per quintal.

Source: IANS