Kisan Wing President Sikander Singh Maluka also says party will not allow govt to abolish Punseed and merge it with Punjab Agro
Chandigarh, June 22, 2020: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today condemned the Congress government for betraying marginal farmers of the State who had borne huge expenses to manage paddy straw last year but were not paid compensation for the same as per the directions of the Supreme Court.
In a statement here, former minister and SAD Kisan Wing President Sikander Singh Maluka said it was unfortunate that the Congress government had not paid compensation of Rs 2,500 per acre to marginal farmers with less than five acres of land for not burning their paddy straw. He said the farmers had teamed up to even purchase paddy straw management machines and spent on diesel also in the hope of being compensated for this costly exercise.
Mr Sikander Maluka said with initiative taken by the apex court to put an end to paddy stubble burning was likely to hit a road block this year. “With marginal farmers being cheated and not paid for the sacrifice made by them last year, they are not likely to spend more money on managing their straw again in November this year”. He said progressive farmers were also not likely to purchase more stubble management machines to augment this exercise further.
The Kisan wing president asked chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to intervene immediately and ensure all farmers who had not burnt paddy stubble last year were given due compensation. He also demanded action against officials responsible for the delay in payment of the compensation.
Meanwhile Mr Maluka also condemned the government’s move to abolish Punseed and merge it with Punjab Agro. He said Punseed was responsible for ensuring propagation of quality seed and ensuring it reached the farmer. He said in stark contrast Punjab Agro was mandated with ensuring marketing of horticulture produce. He said any move to abolish Punseed would give a fillip to the seed mafia and could result in many more seed scams as the one which happened recently when spurious PR 128 and PR 129 paddy variety seed was sold to unsuspecting farmers. He said maintaining Punseed was in the interest of the farming community and the SAD would oppose any move which tinkered with its present day identity. “We will not let the Congress government take this anti-farmer step”, Mr Maluka added.