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Punjab farmers protest stubble fire FIRs, delay in flood relief
Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarwan Singh Pandher says Punjab government should give ₹200 a quintal or ₹6,000/acre to farmers for crop residue management.
Kisan Mazdoor Morcha activists held protests at several places in Punjab on Monday to demand immediate compensation for flood-hit farmers.
They lashed out at the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government for taking action against farmers for stubble burning, and burnt effigies of the central and Punjab governments as part of their protest.
Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said farmers are demanding compensation for extensive losses suffered during the recent floods in the state.
He demanded that the government pay at least ₹70,000/ acre to farmers for the damage to paddy crop during the deluge. “10% of it should be given to farm labourers,” Pandher, who led the protest in Amritsar, said.
Pandher also sought 100% compensation for the loss of livestock and poultry farms.
He protesting farmers demanded full compensation be given to those whose houses were damaged due to the floods.
He demanded that the state government provide seeds and fertilisers for sowing of the wheat crop.
More time should be given to farmers for removing sand and silt deposited in agricultural fields in flood-affected areas, he said.
Punjab faced one of its worst floods in decades, primarily due to the swollen Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi rivers, along with seasonal rivulets resulting from heavy rainfall in their catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, heavy rains in Punjab exacerbated the flooding situation.
Pandher also lashed out at the state government for action against farmers for stubble burning.
He said FIRs are being registered, red entries are being made in land records and fines are being imposed on farmers for farm fires. “This should be stopped,” he said.
The farmer leader said the state government should give ₹200 a quintal or ₹6,000/acre to farmers for the management of crop residue.
Pandher said if the government did not stop crackdown against farmers for stubble burning, then it would intensify their agitation.
Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi after harvesting of the paddy crop in October and November.
As the window for the rabi crop, wheat, is short after paddy harvest, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue for sowing the next crop.
On the call of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, other farmer bodies, including Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Azad), BKU (Krantikari), BKU (Doaba) and Kisan Mazdoor Hitkari Sabha, also participated in the protest.
