Cotton ginners of Punjab and Haryana have decided to join the two-day strike from November 25 called by various ginning associations of the country, against its high minimum support price (MSP) fixed by Centre and high taxes.“We will not procure cotton from the markets for two days in protest against the wrong policies of the centre, which have proved to be the death knell for cotton ginners and spinning mills,” Punjab Cotton Factories and Ginners Association president Bhagwan Bansal said today. Almost 500 ginners across Punjab and Haryana are participating in the strike, which will hit cotton procurement at 52 centres in the both states.Ginners said that viability of the cotton business had been severely hit because of increased cotton prices in the domestic market.“We are suffering a loss of Rs 150 per quintal in view of low realisation of cotton bales and cotton seed amid depressed global markets,” Haryana Cotton Ginners Association president Sushil Mittal said.The cotton MSP for Punjab and Haryana are Rs 2,800 and 2,700 per quintal respectively, higher by 40 per cent over last year’s prices.
