Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said he will raise several issues, including a legal guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm debt, at the NITI Aayog governing council meeting in Delhi on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters, Mann slammed his predecessors Charanjit Singh Channi and Amarinder Singh for not attending such meetings earlier. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the seventh governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog, the government's apex policy think tank.
"I am going to attend the NITI Aayog meeting. I have done my homework on Punjab issues which will be put forth during the meeting,” Mann said. He said it was after three years any representative from Punjab was going to attend the NITI Aayog meeting.
"I will raise issues of water, debt of farmers, legal guarantee to MSP, canal system, cleaning of 'buddha nallah' (in Ludhiana), BBMB (Bhakra Beas Management Board) and also health-related matters,” Mann said.
The chief minister said he would also try to meet Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Delhi and raise the issue of direct international flights from Amritsar and Mohali airports to London, Chicago, San Francisco and Vancouver.
Replying to a question on the MSP committee formed by the Centre, Mann said the government should involve farmer representatives rather than those who were in favour of the now-repealed farm laws.
PB GOVT COMPLETES PROCESS TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO FAMILIES OF 789 FARMERS MARTYRED DURING PROTEST AGAINST FARM LAWS
The Punjab Chief Minister said that the state government has completed the process to provide financial assistance worth Rs 39.55 crore to the families of 789 farmers who had attained martyrdom during the protest against the farm laws.
Mann said that families of the martyred farmer have been given Rs 5 lakh each by the state government as financial assistance. He said that 89 families have received financial assistance worth Rs 4.60 crore in Mansa, 21 families of Tarn Taran have got Rs 1.05 crore, 117 families of Sangrur have got Rs 5.85 crore, 69 families of Moga have received Rs 3.45 crore, 10 families of Fazilka have got Rs 50 lakh, 48 families of Ludhiana have got Rs 2.37 crore, 43 families of Barnala have received Rs 2.15 crore, 111 families of Patiala have got Rs 5.55 crore, 19 families of Amritsar have got Rs 95 lakh, seven families of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar have got Rs 35 lakh, 10 families of SAS Nagar have got Rs 50 lakh and 83 families of Bathinda have got Rs 4.15 crore.
He reiterated the firm commitment of the state government to bail out the farmers of the state from current agrarian crisis, adding that the state government has already introduced an alternative crop in the form of Moong, the purchase of which is being done on MSP.
Over 400 cattle die, 20,000 infected in a month in Punjab due to lumpy skin disease
Chandigarh: Over 400 cattle have died due to lumpy skin disease in Punjab in a month and around 20,000, mostly cows, have been infected, officials said. Barnala, Bathinda, Faridkot, Jalandhar, Moga and Muktsar are among the worst-affected districts of the state, joint director of Punjab Animal Husbandry Department Ram Pal Mittal said. Meanwhile, Punjab Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Saturday, visited affected areas in Fazilka district. Bhullar said the animal husbandry department was taking all necessary steps to prevent the spread of the disease. The government has released an amount of Rs 76 lakh to all the districts of the state, said the minister.