E-Paper
Sukhbir promises land rights to farmers along riverine tracts
According to Sukhbir Singh Badal, former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had initiated the process to grant land rights to the farmers who had been tilling land along the riverine tracts for decades, but vested interests thwarted the proposal.
In an effort to woo farmers of the border area, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday announced that his party, upon forming government in the state, would grant land rights to the farmers who had been tilling land along the riverine tracts for decades.
“Former chief minister (CM) Parkash Singh Badal had initiated this process, but vested interests thwarted the proposal,” said Sukhbir while addressing gatherings in Jalalabad, Guruharsahai, Ferozepur city and rural in support of SAD candidate Nardev Singh Mann. “We will bring in necessary changes in the law to do so,” he said.
Criticising AAP and the Congress for “neglecting” the border areas, he urged the voters to support the regional party in the parliamentary election to pave the way for formation of a SAD government in the next assembly polls. He promised holistic development of the border belt, including opening the Pakistan border to boost trade, introducing a special border area investment plan to establish industrial units and setting up a medical college in the constituency.
He alleged the AAP government was making preparations to transfer Punjab’s river waters to Haryana and Delhi. “The canal water doesn’t reach tail ends. This situation will get worse with CM Bhagwant Mann browbeating canal patwaris to file fictitious reports, stating that water is reaching the tail ends and that sufficient canal water is available in Punjab for irrigation purposes,” he said, adding that if such a report is submitted to the Supreme Court, it will pave the way for construction of the SYL canal through a court order.
Urging the people to compare the facilities they got during the SAD tenure with those during the Congress and AAP regimes, he said, “The Shagun and the scheduled caste scholarship schemes have been closed. The schemes of atta-dal and old age pension have been curtailed. All development works have come to a halt.”
He reminded the people of sangat darshan programmes during the SAD tenure, resolving grievances on the spot. “CM Bhagwant Mann has not even visited the area despite contesting the assembly election from Jalalabad in 2017,” he added.
Other leaders accompanying the SAD president were Vardev Singh Noni Maan, Joginder Singh Jindu and Montu Vohra.
