Chandigarh, April 24, 2021 (Yes Punjab News)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab state president and Lok Sabha member Bhagwant Mann has demanded from the Punjab government to pay a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal to the farmers to cover the deficit in wheat crop, because the average yield of wheat had declined by 4 to 6 quintals per acre across the state.
In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Saturday, Bhagwant Mann said that during the wheat crop season, the farmers were struggling on the borders of Delhi against the centre’s black farm laws and strengthening the brotherhood, had helped each other in the fields, but still crop care had been affected.
He said that sudden increase in heat; unseasonal rain and storm and crop failure have had a devastating effect on the wheat crop. “As a result, the wheat yield across the state has been reduced by 4 to 6 quintals per acre, resulting in an economic loss of Rs. 8,000 to 12,000 per acre to each farmer,” said Mann.
He said that it was unfortunate that the farmers of the state had been fighting against the black farm laws of the Centre and the apathy of the weather and when they reached the mandis with their produce, the Punjab government did not make the necessary arrangements for the proper maintenance of the crop.
Mann said that due to shortage of gunny bags (bardana), the wheat was still lying in the mandis and due to rain; the farmers were being forced to cut-off the weight of their wheat and sell it.
“With this, the farmers are bearing a double blow. In such a scenario it is the responsibility of the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to take up the cause of the farmers and announce a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal to the farmers,” he added. Mann said that during the Covid pandemic, the centre government had announced free food grains to 80 crore people of the country, in which the farmers of Punjab will be a major contributor and this is why the Modi government should appreciate and respect the ‘annadatas’.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give up his stubbornness and vindictiveness towards the farmers and repeal the three black farm laws so that the farmers can take care of their crops instead of sitting on Delhi’s borders.
Mann further said that Captain Amarinder Singh had promised to save the farmers of Punjab and farming during the last assembly elections and had said that after forming government, he will waive off the loans of farmers’ including private and public banks along with arhtiyas; but he has failed in fulfilling these promises.
He said that the people of Punjab will demand an account of this from all the Congressmen including the Chief Minister in the villages. Mann said that the state government had claimed in the assembly that the treasury of Punjab had increased after a long time and now there is a need to open the treasury to help the farmers, laborers, traders and the needy of the state.
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