Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday warned the Parkash Singh Badal Government against the continuing miserable plight of the farmers, traders and industrialists who were suffering either due to criminal neglect or the lopsided policies.
The Congress Kisan cell would stage dharnas at the district headquarters and burn effigies of Central and State Government on September 29 while the PPCC chief will lead a delegation of industrialists, Beopar Mandal and PPCC to submit a memo to the Chief Minister.
Bajwa said industrialists in the State were agitated over VAT and other issues but despite several discussions, the State Government failed to come to their rescue. On one hand, the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, had been giving the impression that he was on a mission to woo industrialists while on the other, the existing industry was on the verge of closure.
The worst-hit at the moment were the cotton growers whose crops suffered extensive damage due to untimely rains. Majority of them were already under huge debt and this burden would increase in the absence of adequate compensation. Already, many farmers in the Malwa belt were committing suicides despite Badal’s sympathetic claims for the farmers.
He also demanded that the Basmati farmers should be assured adequate price.