Taking strong exception on misleading propaganda of the Congress party over whitefly attack on cotton crop, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday asked the Congress leaders to refrain from shedding crocodile tears over this sensitive issue.
Badal, while expressing solidarity over the loss of crops, said that the State Government would duly compensate the cotton cultivators for this whopping loss for which special ‘girdawari’ (crop loss assessment) was being conducted since September 7 and the entire exercise would be completed by September 18.
“SAD-BJP alliance Government is solidly behind the farmers in this hour of crisis and every step would be taken to bail them out from it. It is on record that the SAD-BJP alliance Government has always helped the farmers whenever they have faced any problem,” he said.
Slamming the Congress party for blowing the matter out of proportion just for sake of vested political interests, Badal said that in dearth of any tangible issue against the State Government, the Congress leaders were now indulging in such cheap tactics to get political mileage.
“The farmers of the State would not get swayed away by these tantrums of the Congress party as they are well aware of the dubious and anti-farmer character of this party,” he said.
Squarely holding the Congress party responsible for the plight of the farmers, Badal said that the farmers of the state were reeling under a whopping debt of Rs 32,000 crore just because of the regressive policies of the successive Congress led Union Governments at the Centre.
On the other hand, Badal unequivocally said that SAD had always remained votary of the farmers and worked hard to safeguard the interests of the food growers of the country.
Due to persistent efforts of the state government, NDA government has recently revised relief norms to the distressed farmers for crop damage due to natural calamities across the country and now the farmers would be eligible for input subsidy if 33 percent of their crop has been damaged instead of earlier norms of 50 percent or more.
Reiterating his firm commitment to resolve impending sugarcane crisis on top priority, Badal said that a positive beginning has already been made with the clearance of outstanding arrears to the tune of Rs 540 crore due towards cooperative sugar mills by the state government thereby fulfilling its promise made to the cane growers. “The remaining issues in this regard would also be amicably resolved shortly,” he said.
The Chief Minister further said that state government would take every possible step to secure the interests of the hard working and resilient farmers of the state. “Congress leaders are trying to mislead the people by resorting to dirty politics but Punjabi farmers will never pay heed to it as they are well aware of the fact that their interests were safeguarded to the best only and only by Shiromani Akali Dal,” Badal added.