Terming the ‘rail roko’ agitation by farmers as “unfortunate”, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday said that the State Government was ready to accept every genuine demand of the peasantry.
“I am well aware of the problems faced by farmers and we are always ready to accept every genuine demand of the peasantry,” said the five-time Chief Minister.
Badal said that the State Government has allocated funds to the tune of Rs 644 crore to compensate the farmers who have suffered huge losses due to pest attack on cotton crop in Malwa (Bathinda) region.
Chief Minister appealed to the peasants to refrain from initiating any sort of action that caused unnecessary harassment to the common people. Some of the demands made by the farmers were "unrealistic" due to which the state government was helpless in accepting it, he said.
“We have already taken several steps for safeguarding the interests of farmers and will continue our endeavour to bail the distressed farmers out of severe crisis,” he said.
Describing the SAD-BJP alliance government as the only pro-farmer government in the country, Badal said that the state government was ever ready to help the distress farmers of the state in anyway.
Replying to another query, the Chief Minister said that anyone found guilty of supplying spurious pesticides to the cotton cultivators in the state would not be spared at any cost.