Bathinda, September 25, 2021 (Yes Punjab News)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab MLA and Kisan Wing state president Kultar Singh Sandhwan and MLA Prof Baljinder Kaur visited various villages in the cotton belt of the state to assess the damage caused to the cotton crop by the pink bollworm infestation and expressed their sympathy with the affected farmers.
The leaders demanded from the newly appointed Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to give 100 percent crop loss compensation to the affected farmers by inspecting the entire cotton belt of Punjab and high-level inquiry under the supervision of the High Court on varieties of Bt cotton seeds and pesticides. At the same time the farmers of the entire cotton belt should be provided high quality pesticides free of cost.
Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Prof Baljinder Kaur on Saturday visited the affected farmers in Kot Bakhtu and Kanakwal villages of Bathinda district and inspected the cotton crop in the fields. Expressing sympathy with the farmers, the AAP leaders said the time for sowing cotton was over and no new crop could be sown. Therefore, the farmers should get full compensation for the loss.
Kultar Singh Sandhwan alleged that during the Badal government in 2015, cotton crop in Bathinda, Mansa, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Fazilka and other districts was attacked by white fly and the quality of seeds and pesticides was compromised.
Similarly, now during the Congress rule, cotton has been attacked by pink bollworm and the quality of pesticides including seeds has been found to be poor.
Sandhwan said despite the repeated spraying of pesticides by the farmers, the scourge of pink bollworm was not going away and due to the negligence of the government the entire cotton crop in the Malwa region was destroyed.
Prof Baljinder Kaur said if strict action had been taken against the culprits involved in the white fly attack on cotton during the Badal government in 2015 and the culprits involved in the pesticide scam; no one would have dared to do such a thing again.
The AAP leaders said, “A high-level inquiry must be conducted under the supervision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the varieties of Bt cotton seeds and pesticides. Because just as the white fly had destroyed the cotton during the Badal government due to counterfeit and ineffective medicines, in the same way, today, pink bollworm is destroying cotton crop and pesticides are proving ineffective. Due to this the farmers are suffering financially and mentally.”
Prof Baljinder Kaur demanded that the crop loss of the farmers should be compensated and the affected farmers should be compensated at least Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh per acre as the farmers of the state were already mired in debt and many farmers have committed suicide.
She demanded, “The Congress government should intervene in this matter and give full compensation to the farmers for the loss of their crops. At the same time, strict action should be taken against the culprits by conducting a time-bound inquiry into the matter.”
On the occasion, party leaders including Kot Bakhtu block incharge Gurtej Singh, secretary Gurjant Singh, circle in-charge Lovepreet Singh, block in-charge youth, Binder Singh Sidhu, Naib Singh Nambardar, Dharman Singh Manwala, Sukhpal Singh, Major Singh Nambardar, Surjivan Singh, Tahil Singh, Manpreet Singh, Gurpreet Singh , Satpal Singh, Bahadur Singh Shergarh, Surjit Singh, Gurpal Singh, among others were also present.
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