Punjab: Congress rejects Rs 20,000 per acre crop damage compensation

Chandigarh: The Congress on Monday rejected the Punjab government's compensation of Rs 20,000 for each acre of crops damaged due to floods, calling it inadequate.

The party also said that allowing farmers to sell sand from their fields is not any special favour to them.

The Punjab Cabinet on Monday decided to provide Rs 20,000 as compensation for each acre of crops damaged and also gave its nod to a scheme allowing farmers to extract and sell sand deposited in their fields after the floods.

Reacting to the cabinet's decision, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring asserted that the current losses suffered by farmers are not routine ones.

He said the farmers have already suffered a loss of about Rs 50,000 per acre due to the damaged crops.

He noted that these are long term losses as not only have the crops been destroyed, even the soil has been damaged.

Warring sought an early deadline for the time bound payment of compensation to the farmers, saying it is necessary to prevent the announcement from turning out to be another "AAP hoax".

"Although the compensation announced remains quite meagre, the government must fix an early deadline for transferring it directly into the accounts of the farmers," he demanded.

The Congress leader said the farmers have already suffered a loss of about Rs 50,000 per acre. Besides, due to the dampness of soil, which will last for months, they will not be able to sow wheat crop, he said.

The government has "forgotten" the livestock losses to the farmers which run into lakhs of rupees, Warring said in a statement.

The government has also not announced any compensation for the damaged houses, he pointed out.

"This is not an ordinary damage that can be compensated with Rs 20,000 per acre", he said, while reiterating his demand for Rs 50,000 per acre compensation.

On the government allowing farmers to extract and sell sand and silt accumulated in their land, Warring pointed out that the farmers in any way have to clear their land from the sand and silt to make it cultivable.

"By letting the farmers lift sand from their land, the government has only passed on its own responsibility to them," he said.

Warring also said there is every chance that the "sand mafia will exploit" the farmers and will not let them earn anything from it.

He sought more clarity as to how the farmers will be able to sell sand, while noting that otherwise it will just be yet another characteristic "AAP optics".