Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, The Punjab Congress President Mr Partap Singh Bajwa today gave a call for Rail Roko on May 2 for one hour from 12.00 to 1.00 PM in protest against the open loot of the farmers in the mandis in the state for which the Parkash Singh Badal government was squarely responsible. He said this was the first phase of the Jan Andolan being launched by the party against anti-people policies of the Badal government.
The party demanded immediate lifting of the wheat and immediate release of payment to the farmers. The payment to farmers is being delayed causing immense harassment to the farmers. The party has demanded bonus on wheat at the rate of Rs 200 per quintal and compensation for the crops damaged due to persistent inclement weather. He also demanded that crop insurance should be implemented and Government should pay the premium for the insurance.
“I apologise to the rail commuters in advance for the inconvenience they might face due to this agitation but the issues were much bigger”, he added.
Mr Bajwa was all praise for the young and dynamic vice-president Rahul Gandhi who, taking strong note of the continued harassment of the farmers in Punjab, visited Sirhind, Mandi Gobindgarh and Khanna mandis to extend total support to this section of society that constitutes the backbone of the country.
Mr Bajwa said farmers continued to be harassed in the mandis and the procurement was tardy. It was only after feeling the heat following sudden visit by Mr Gandhi that the state government late in the night released money to clear arrears of the farmers. However, the government was still to compensate them for the loss suffered by them due to natural calamity. He said the farmners were being kept in the dark about the actual price on which the crop was being procured and they were being told that it would be decided later. This amounted to cheating the farmers.
He said the farmers were being looted in the mandis by all those involved in the purchase of his produce in the name of poor quality. He alleged certain influential Akali leaders who were also in the food trade as commission agents had been forcing the farmers in league with the procurement agency officials to sell their produce at lower rates and pass on the same to the government at higher rate. He termed it as open exploitation.
He reminded Mr Badal that the situation had gone from bad to worse under his regime and the irony was that he had been projecting himself all these years as champion of the farmers. Mr Badal’s real face had now been thoroughly exposed in his fifth term as the chief minister.
Commenting upon Mr Badal’s courtesy call on the former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the PPCC said it was nothing but rank opportunism as it was the same Dr Manmohan Singh whose elevation as the prime minister he had refused to welcome. It was Dr Manmohan Singh who had been going out of the way to help Punjab but Mr Badal kept on berating him and alleging discrimination at the hands of discrimination. He said it was only now under his own government at the centre led by Mr Narendra Modi that he had understood the real meaning of discrimination. However, the problem was that the Badal family had always worked for personal gains and never in the interest of the state, he added.
