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Farmers seeking compensation for cotton crop loss gherao Punjab minister Singla
Protesters question minister Vijay Inder Singla about the Congress government’s claims of pro-farmer policies
Members of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) demanding adequate compensation for cotton crop damaged in the pink bollworm attack gheraoed Punjab cabinet minister Vijay Inder Singla in the Sangrur district administration complex on Tuesday.
The protesters questioned the minister about the Congress government’s claims of pro-farmer policies. “The farmers have staged protests in front of the residence of finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and the Bathinda district administration complex demanding compensation for the cotton crop loss. But the government did not pay heed to our demands. Today, we gheraoed minister Singla and asked questions about his government’s policies,” said Gobinder Singh, Sangrur block chief of the BKU (Ugrahan).
“We demand ₹60,000 per acre compensation for the farmers and ₹30,000 for farm labourers. We will also gherao Singla when he will hold meetings in the Bhawanigarh area of the district,” he added.
Singla, who is MLA from Sangrur, handed over appointment letters to kin of 23 farmers who died during the agitation against the three contentious agriculture laws.
He said that the Punjab government stood by farmers and promised to give ₹5 lakh compensation and a government job to the family members who died during the struggle and the promises are being fulfilled.
