SAD seeks ₹3,000 per acre compensation for farmers

The SAD core committee passed a resolution to this effect at its meeting presided over by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday demanded that the Congress government should compensate farmers to the tune of ₹ 3,000 per acre for the extra cost which will be incurred by them on paddy transplantation.

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The SAD core committee passed a resolution to this effect at its meeting presided over by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal. The state government should take on the responsibility of all power, water and sewerage bills levied during the lockdown period and pay the same to the utilities from the disaster management fund, it demanded.

The core committee took into account the crisis in the farming sector due to unavailability of labour due to which the farmers’ transplantation costs have more than doubled. “In case the government does not step in and give compensation of Rs 3,000 per acre to all paddy growers, the agrarian crisis in the state will deepen,” according to a party release.

The committee also demanded that the government pay the power, water and sewerage bills for the entire three-month period of the lockdown from the State Disaster Management Fund. The meeting also passed resolutions demanding the Congress government give a complete account of the ₹5,600 crore revenue loss incurred by the excise department.