Chandigarh, June 9, 2020 (Yes Punjab News)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today demanded the Congress government compensate farmers to the tune of Rs 3,000 per acre for the extra cost which will be incurred by them in transplanting paddy besides demanding that the State government take on the responsibility of all power, water and sewerage bills levied during the lockdown period and pay the same to the utilities from the Disaster Management Fund.
A resolution to this effect was passed at a meeting of the core committee which was presided over by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal. The core committee took into account the crisis in the farming sector due to unavailability of labour due to which farmer transplantation costs have more than doubled.
It said in case the government did not step in and give compensation of Rs 3,000 per acre to all paddy growers the agrarian crisis in the State would deepen.
The core committee also demanded that the Congress government pay the power, water and sewerage bills for the entire three month period of the lockdown from the proceeds of the State Disaster Management Fund.
It said neither the common man nor the industry was in a position to take this load and the government should pay the three month dues to the State electricity and water utilities as a onetime measure.
The meeting passed resolutions demanding the Congress government give a complete account of the Rs 5,600 crore revenue loss incurred by the excise department and fix responsibility for the same.
It demanded that appropriate cases be registered against the family of the Religious Advisor to the chief minister following seizure of two trucks of illicit liquor from its sugar mill compound. It also demanded that Congress leaders Madan Lal Jalalpur and Hardyal Singh Kamboj be prosecuted for running an illegal distillery cum bottling plant through their front men.
The core committee also decided to bring all these issues to the notice of Governor VP Singh Badnore on June 11 and also demand an inquiry into the liquor, seed and ration scams. It said the government was trying to bury the Rs 5,600 crore liqour scam as well as the Rs 4,000 crore seed scam by going after the small fish even as the real king pin roamed scot free.
It said the role of Cooperation minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa should be probed in the seed scam but said this would be possible only if there was an independent inquiry into the case by the CBI or a sitting judge of the high court. It said similarly an inquiry was needed to probe how a large part of central food grain relief was diverted to Congressmen and never reached the beneficiaries.
It said it was condemnable that while the State had lost thousands of crores due to these scams, the government had given a relief of Rs 673 crore to liquor contractors and Rs 150 crore to the sand mafia.
The core committee also noted that sugarcane dues of Rs 680 crore were due to 70,000 farmers and that cooperative and private mills had not paid farmers for their produce. He said as much as Rs 96 crore was pending for the 2018-2019 season while Rs 585 crore was pending for the 2019-2020 season.
It also demanded restoration of Blue cards which had been deleted unfairly due to interference by Congress leaders besides withdrawal of all false cases registered at the behest of Congressmen.
The meeting also thanked Union Surface Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari for acceding to the wishes of the people of Amritsar and Sikhs worldwide by changing the alignment of the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra highway to ensure a direct connectivity between the holy city and the capital.
It also thanked the minister for creating a Sikh circuit by connecting five major Sikh shrines at Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, Taran Taran and Amritsar with the proposed expressway.
The core committee also noted that the government had started prosecuting journalists who were exposing mafias run by Congressmen or writing about the misdeeds of Congress ministers. It demanded all false cases registered against journalists be withdrawn and that they should not be summoned to police stations.
Members present in the core committee meeting included Bhai Gobind Singh Longowal, Mr. Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Jathedar Tota Singh, Dr Charanjit Singh Atwal, Prof. Prem Singh Chandumajra, Dr. Upinderjit Kaur, Mr. Sikander Singh Maluka, Mr. Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Mr Gulzar Singh Ranike, Bibi Jagir Kaur, Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, Mr. Hari Singh Zira, Mr. Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema, Mr Avtar Singh Hit, Mr. Surjit Singh Rakhra, Mr. Baldev Singh Mann and Mr. Jagmeet Singh Brar.
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