Badal’s anti-farmer face stands exposed: Bajwa

Demands Rs 3000/- per quintal MSP for Basmati 1509

Chandigarh, September 25: The Punjab Congress President Mr Partap Singh Bajwa today lambasted the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal saying the Rs 80 crore announced as compensation to the farmers whose cotton crop had been destroyed was not only a cruel joke and but also exposed his camouflaged anti-farmers’ face.

“Nothing can be more shocking that Rs 80, Rs 120 or Rs 200 cheques delivered by the state government to the beleaguered farmers as compensation to the crop damage and this amounted to sprinkling salt on their wounds. Nothing can be the bigger indictment of the Badal government than the suicide committed by a farmer blaming the state government while sitting in dharna in Bathinda. This is the situation under the rule of the leader who has been posing himself all these years as the champion of the farmers but in effect has been exploiting them as vote bank”, he asserted.

Mr Bajwa fully supported the demand of the farmers for compensation at the rate of Rs 40,000 per quintal as the crime had been committed by the government by supplying sub-standard seeds and spurious fertilizers.

He demanded the dismissal of the Agriculture Minister Tota Singh saying he was directly responsible for the Rs 33 crore pesticide scandal as he was the person to clear the proposal sent to him by the agriculture department. He said here was the one case in which the file for the purchase of pesticide had moved with extra-ordinary speed.

He pointed out to the anger among the farmers and said this was not due to the loss due to natural calamity but because of the total corruption in the government for which action had been taken only against agriculture director whereas the file got clearance at the level of the minister. He questioned clean chit given by Mr Tota Singh to himself.

Bajwa also demanded Rs 3000/- per quintal MSP on the Basmati 1509 for this season. He said that Government of India has approved Rs 1400 on the request of the state Government, this is intentionally being done to finish the farming community in Punjab.

He reiterated that the farmers should be fully compensated so that they could cultivate the next crop.