Taking up the issue of farmers’ suicide to corner ruling SAD-BJP alliance in the State Assembly in the upcoming Budget session, Punjab Congress legislature party (ClP) leader Charanjit Singh Channi has announced a personal contact programme with the families, who have been victims of farmers’ suicide.
The newly appointed ClP leader Channi on Monday held his first formal meeting with Speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Charanjit Singh Atwal.
While addressing a press conference after the meeting, Channi said, “Congress party will start farmer-to-farmer contact program wherein I will personally visit the families of farmers who have committed suicides and listen to their grievances. We will prepare a detailed report after meeting these families and then take up those issues in the coming Vidhan Sabha session. The points raised in the report will also be included in the party manifesto.”
Channi said that the agrarian crises were far deeper in the state than they appeared to. He said that in the last four year, more than 3000 farmers had committed suicide in the state and the State Government had just tried to brush aside the issue by compensating a handful only. In the last four years, only 55 had been granted compensation, added Channi.
He said that the government has failed badly to address the agrarian crises, 90 farmers have committed suicide alone in the Bhatinda, Mansa and Sangrur in the last four months.
The ClP leader said that he had raised demand of more sittings of Assembly before the Speaker. The government had been using the clause of discretion of Business Advisory Committee to reduce the sittings of Punjab Vidhan Sabha. This should not be done and at least this session should be of 25 days so that the significant issues of Punjab could be discussed and debated. The opposition wants healthy discussion not the disruption of the house at all, he said.
Accusing the SAD BJP government of politicizing the welfare schemes, Channi said that the present government has intentionally deleted the names of 4.5 lakh families who were having the blue cards. These are the families who are basically inclined to the Congress party. This will not be tolerated at all and Congress will fight for the rights of the poor people, said the Congress leader.
Blaming the SAD BJP government for completely ignoring “the right of children to free and compulsory education Act 2009” and not implementing it in the state, Channi said that the Punjab Government doesn’t want to educate the children of poor people in Punjab. This also creates a vertical division in the society because the children of rich get education in convent schools and the children of the poor get the same in government schools where there is acute shortage of teachers and books.
There is a provision in the Act for the private schools to educate 25% of the poor people children in their schools but this government has not so far implemented this since 2009. There is big nexus between the Education Minister and the private school players, which is causing this social discrimination, alleged Channi.