SAD accuses govt of not seeking relief for wheat growers

The SAD demanded that the Punjab government seek money under the natural calamity category from the central disaster management fund.

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday lashed at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for not approaching the Centre to seek compensation for farmers who suffered huge losses due to fall in wheat crop yields because of inclement weather.

In a statement, SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra said it was shocking that the AAP government had not even approached the Centre for award of compensation to the state’s farmers who had suffered a loss of as much as ₹10,000 per acre due to unseasonal rains in February followed by extremely high temperatures in March.

The SAD demanded that the Punjab government seek money under the natural calamity category from the central disaster management fund.

In a statement, SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra said it was shocking that the AAP government had not even approached the Centre for award of compensation to the state’s farmers who had suffered a loss of as much as ₹10,000 per acre due to unseasonal rains in February followed by extremely high temperatures in March. Demanding that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann take up the case with the Centre, he claimed that till now, the state had not requisitioned the Centre to take stock of the losses suffered by farmers. Chandumajra said farmers had not only suffered losses due to the natural calamity which had struck them but were now also facing value cuts on account of shrivelled grains. “The chief minister should ensure that no value cuts as being proposed by the FCI (Food Corporation of India) are enforced on Punjab farmers”, he said.