Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday expressed their deep anguish and grief over the suicide committed by a farmer couple of Lokkhera village near Longowal and demanded financial aid from the Capt Amarinder Singh government to the victim’s family.
AAP’s Kisan wing’s president and Kotkapura MLA Kultar Singh Sidhwan, and other leaders blamed the “wrong and anti-farmer” policies of the Capt Amarinder Government for forcing the farmers to commit suicide, day in and day out. “The Government has failed to fulfill its poll promise of offering complete loan waiver leading to such macabre incidents due to their debt liabilities,” they said.
The party leaders said that since the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre was dragging its feet on guaranteeing MSP to the farmers on all crops, the Captain-led government in Punjab should pitch in to ensure MSP on all crops.
“Captain government is making lame excuses of the State coffers being empty…It should crush the sand and liquor mafia in the state and an generate sufficient revenue to enable it to offer complete waiver to the farmers,” he said.
GOVT RESPONSIBLE FOR CROP DAMAGE DUE TO RAINS; AAP SEEKS COMPENSATION FOR FARMERS
AAP MLAs — Principal Budhram (Budhlada) and State Youth Wing president Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (Barnala) — on Monday accused the Captain Amarinder Singh – led Government and Punjab Mandi Board officials of being responsible for gross mismanagement in making proper arrangements to protect the produce in mandis, leading to their damage due to untimely rains.
“The crop is damaged at mandis due to incompetence of the State Government and marketing board staff, who failed to take an urgent call ahead of the damage caused to the crop…Government and Mandi Board officials failed to put in place proper arrangements for the protection of crops at mandis, which led to extensive damage of the produce,” they said adding that the since the dry crop was not procured by the authorities on time, hence the damage.
AAP MLAs demanded that the Government should suitably compensate crop loss caused by the sheer negligence of the government and officials of Punjab Mandi Board. They also accused the Mandi Board officials of demanding ‘bribe’ money from the farmers to procure their crops.