Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, The Punjab Congress President, Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, today demanded that special girdwari should be ordered in the villages which had been affected by heavy rains during the last couple of days leading to severe crop damage to paddy in Majha, Doaba and parts of Mawa.
In a statement, he said Punjab earlier suffered due to drought but the farmers did not allow the crops to get damaged by relying more on diesel pump sets which added to the input cost putting additional burden on them.
At the time when the crops were nearing maturity, part of the state had been affected due to untimely heavy rains which had complicated the situation.
He rapped the Parkash Singh Badal government for not demanding adequate compensation from the centre as drought relief while a smaller state like Haryana had sought a bigger package. It clearly betrayed that the Punjab government had failed to prepare a fool proof case to help the farmers.
He pointed that the worst sufferers were the cotton growers in the Malwa belt due to heavy rains. Paddy crop too had been adversely damaged in certain areas.
He urged the Badal government to take immediate steps to bring “truck loads” of money from its “own” NDA government at the centre to provide succour to the suffering farmers. All along, Mr Badal and the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, had been alleging discrimination during the UPA regime and promising that the regime change would usher Punjab into an era of prosperity with truckloads of money coming from the centre. The situation was now ironic as the Union Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, had himself shattered the myth created by Badals of discrimination and had refused to sanction any special package for the state.
He also slammed the Badal government for tracing the genesis of the economic crisis in the state to the special term loan extended to Punjab by the centre during militancy as several of its instalments had been waived by the centre at different stages and in this regards, referred to certain statements issued by Mr Badal himself expressing his gratefulness to the centre for the same. He attributed the crisis to financial mismanagement and profligacy.
He said now would be the major test of the Badal government as it would be seen as to what extent the farmers were compensated, both for drought as well for crop damage due to heavy rains.
