Making an attempt to save the State’s farmers from sheer exploitation on account of selling of their crops in the open market, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Monday gave nod to
create a Price Stabilisation Fund in the State.
“The step would result in a self-sustaining mechanism to ensure better remunerative prices to the peasantry for their produce besides offering marketing support to offset the negative impact of marketing forces,” said Badal while interacting with a delegation of the Bharti Kissan Union led by Punjab Mandi Board chairman Ajmer Singh lakhowal.
Acceding to BKU’s another demand, Badal also approved to appoint those farmers and arhtiyas (commission agents), who were educated and well-versed with the ground realities of peasantry on the State-level Agricultural Debt Settlement Tribunal
and district-level debt settlement forums to ensure foolproof and efficient implementation of ‘The Punjab Settlement of Agricultural Indebtedness 2016’.
During the deliberations, Badal informed the delegation that the State Government has already released `80 crore to ensure free-crop loan of farmers up to `50,000.
Badal directed Punjab State Power Corporation limited (PSPCl) chairman KD Chaudhuri to clear the backlog of general category tube-well connections pending since 1992 at the earliest.
He also asked the PSPCl chairman to immediately release the tube-well connections under priority category of 2.5 and five acres. likewise, Badal also asked him to issue tube-well connections for farmers having land across the border fence on the top priority.
The Chief Minister also asked the Additional Chief Secretaries Development and Revenue to seek legal opinion from legal Remembrance (lR) for making suitable amendments in the land Tenure Act, 1953, for facilitating the farmers to get better prices of their produce.
Since the current provisions of the Act were archaic and needed immediate amendments in the larger interests of the farmers, he added.
Badal also batted for roping in more NGOs to check the menace of stray cattle in the State. Expressing concern over the heavy toll of human life and substantial loss suffered by the farmers due to this menace, Badal assured the delegation that the State Government was fully committed to control this hazard.
Badal added that the State Government was in constant touch with the Centre to impress upon them to overcome certain shortcomings in New Crop Insurance Scheme launched to make it a more ‘farmer-friendly policy’.
The State Government has brought all objections in the Centre’s notice and will urge them to amend the
scheme so that majority of farmers, especially from green revolution states like Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, are benefitted from it, he added.