Punjab unit of the BJP on Wednesday sought “immediate financial assistance” to the State’s farmers suffering heavy losses from the attack of whitefly on the cotton crop.
Besides, the party also urged the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to take steps to release the payment of cane growers and release of compensation announced for farmers whose wheat crop was damaged due to heavy rains.
The demands were put forth by a delegation of BJP Kisan Morcha, led by State party chief Kamal Sharma which met the Chief Minister on Wednesday.
The delegation apprised the Chief Minister that the cotton crop has been completely damaged due to whitefly attack and even the insecticides being used by the farmers are failing to minimize the impact of the attack.
The situation has reached such seriousness that many farmers have started destroying their cotton crop midway in order to get another crop from the same fields, said the delegation member and state BJP Kisan Morcha president Jatinder Singh Athwal.
He said: “Growing cotton is already very expensive task and to control the attack of whitefly, the farmer have already spent huge amount too. If farmers would not be compensated at the moment, the distress over them could be unbearable.”
Responding, Chief Minister assured the delegation that immediate steps will be taken to bail out the farmers from this distress.