New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS): Congres General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday accused the government of not procuring paddy on MSP, compelling the farmers to sell their produce below market price in the open market.

Taking to Twitter, she said: "BJP government will threaten farmers put them in jail in NSA but will Not give MSP, In UPs many districts the farmers are compelled to sell their produce in below msp in loss of 900 to 1,000 per quintal, MSP is right of farmers and Congress will fight for it."

On Monday, the government said that over 56.62 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been procured in the Kharif Marketing Season 2021-22 up to October 17.

The KMS 2021-22, at the minimum support price (MSP), commenced recently and has benefitted 3,71,919 farmers with MSP value of Rs 11,099.25 crore, an official statement said.

The procurement took place in states and UTs of Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

The government had earlier declared October 11 as the date for starting procurement under MSP for Haryana and Punjab.

However, following a hue and cry from the farmers, the date was brought forward and the procurement started on October 1.