Courtesy the Daily Mirror

The Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP) raised concerns over the failure on the part of the government to declare a minimum purchase price for paddy and asked whether it had not been done as a help for the millers who helped the ruling party during the elections. 

JNP Farmers’ Wing leader Karunathilaka Herath said although President Anura Kumara Dissanayake claims to be the son of a farmer, a solution had not been offered yet to the paddy crisis. He said the government had knelt before not only multi-national companies but also five leading millers in the country. 

“A few months have lapsed after the government was formed. It came with a series of promises to address farmers’ issues. Like the previous governments, the present government is also letting the farmers down. The government does not seem to be working with any clear-cut policies. Paddy harvesting has already begun. Today, farmers are in the lurch without a proper price for their produce,” he said.  

He said paddy prices vary from district to district.