Demanding from the Punjab Government to release `8 crore for farmers whose wheat crop got damaged in accidental fires this season, Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that the losses may drive the growers to commit suicide.
The State BJP’s vice president Harjit Singh Grewal, along with its State farmers’ wing chief Sukhpal Singh Nanu, said that as per the records of the State Government, wheat crop over 2,800 acres in 20 districts was damaged in fires. They urged Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to immediately announce a relief of `12,000 per acre to such farmers.
They said that the Chief Minister should try and understand the gravity of the situation. “It is not only the family of the farmer which is affected but farm workers are also hit,” they said.
BJP leaders feared that the growers and the farm workers may commit suicide if timely action was not taken, while urging the Chief Minister to announce a `8 crore relief package taking into consideration the minimum support price (MSP).
They pointed that the BJP Government in Haryana had recently announced `12,000 per acre as compensation to the farmers who suffered crop losses due to fires.