Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday said that the Central Government should introduce a crop insurance scheme at the earliest to protect farmers from losses due to vagaries of weather.
Badal, interacting with the media after his visit to villages of Muktsar and Fazilka districts to assess the damage caused by hailstorm on Saturday night, said that the farmers are required to fend for themselves in case of nature’s fury.
“It is unfortunate that thousands of acre of golden harvest (wheat) of the farmers have been ruined due to this natural calamity, which would further accentuate the miseries of the farmers. They were already reeling under a heavy debt,” Badal pointed out.
He said that in this hour of crisis, the Union Government “must swing into action by forming a long term policy to cater with adversaries of nature else the food security of the country would be periled”.
The Chief Minister said that besides adequately compensating the farmers for such a heavy losses, the Centre should also introduce a ‘Crop Insurance Scheme’ for them so that their interests can be protected.
“Such natural disasters broke the backbone of the farmers who nurture their crops with sweat and toil,” he said. Badal said that he would soon impress upon the Central Government to take the necessary steps so that interests of the farmers could be safeguarded.
“We are committed to help the farmers and no stone will be left unturned for this noble cause,” he added. Chief Minister said that in a pro-farmer initiative, the NDA government has now revised the relief norms to the distressed farmers for the crop damage due to natural calamities across the country.
“Now, the farmers would be eligible for input subsidy if 33 per cent of their crop has been damaged instead of earlier norms of 50 per cent or more,” he added. He said that this decision would go a long way in mitigating the woes of farmers due to the vagaries of the weather. However, Badal said that the relief norms for the affected farmers must be enhanced to 10,000 per acre.
Announcing an immediate relief package for the farmers, the Chief Minister, who visited Panniwala, Tarkhanwala, Udaang, lakkarwala, Bhulerian, Taamkot and Baam villages on Sunday, asked the Irrigation Secretary to immediately visit the hailstorm affected villages and monitor the ongoing relief measures.
He also called up the Financial Commissioner Revenue (FCR) and asked him to immediately conduct special ‘Girdawaris’ for assessing the loss due to hailstorm.
On the complaint lodged by the local villagers against a Patwari for allegedly demanding bribe from them, the Chief Minister asked the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) to get the matter thoroughly probed and take necessary action against the guilty officer by filing a case.