'Gujarat has ignored cotton farmers'

Vaghela lashes out at modi government for trying to hide failures

A day after chief minister Narendra Modi made a representation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking financial support and the clearing of pending issues, Union textiles minister Shankersinh Vaghela slammed the state government.

He said the Gujarat government had no right to demand aid for the Sardar Sarovar project.

"The BJP government in Gujarat is only attempting to hide its failures. I do not think Narendra Modi has the right to make representations on issues like cotton purchase, Sardar Sarovar project and the like," Vaghela, who is a Congress leader from Gujarat, said at a media conference in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

He added that the central government has nothing to do with the Narmada issue as the matter is pending with the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan governments, both of which are ruled by the BJP.

On the issue of minimum support price (MSP) for cotton, Vaghela said that, instead of helping cotton farmers by paying higher prices, the Gujarat government is asking for higher purchases of cotton by the central government.

"As far as cotton is concerned, the state government has done nothing to help the farmers. The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has, in fact, stepped in and is purchasing cotton at minimum support price. But the Gujarat government should follow Maharashtra and purchase cotton from farmers at a price higher than the MSP," Vaghela said.

The Union txtiles minister said that when he was chief minister in 1997, the state government gave a sum of Rs 100 crore to Gujarat State Co-operative Cotton Federation (Gujcot) to purchase cotton from farmers at prices higher than the minimum support price.

"When Maharashtra is paying Rs 500 more per quintal than the MSP, why is Gujarat not paying at least Rs 200 more," he questioned.

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Gujarat's demands from the Centre

• Purchase 10 lakh bales of cotton
• Provide gas for the Pipavav project
• Clear the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GujCOC) Act
• Provide assistance for the Sardar Sarovar project
• Provide special assistance for the soil health card project
• Implement changes proposed in Petroleum Regulatory Board.
• Accord importance to Gujarat in Sagarmala project
• Special package for co-operative banking sector