New Delhi: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on December 12 suggested in Lok Sabha that a meeting of all concerned be convened to decide the minimum support price (MSP) for sugarcane to the growers.

Responding to the issue raised by agitated Opposition members who had stalled the Question Hour protesting the police firing on sugarcane farmers on December 11 in Basti (Uttar Pradesh), Vajpayee said the government was collecting information in this regard and would make a statement later in the day.

If the police were found to be guilty, they would be punished, he assured the members.

He had already talked to the Chief Minister and other authorities in this regard, Vajpayee said, adding he was told that police had only fired in the air but "there is a dispute whether there was police firing".

A dead body was recovered 15 kms away from the site but it was not yet clear whether he was a victim of police firing, he said. Newspaper reports, however, say three persons were killed and many injured, he said.

As regards the dispute over the minimum support price for the sugarcane to farmers, he said the court had ordered that the state government could not pay more than what had been fixed by the Centre.

"If the court's order is a hurdle, let all of us sit together and decide the issue," the Prime Minister said.

PTI