Chandigarh, April 29, 2021
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and Kisan Wing president Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Thursday said that Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government has failed in making prior arrangements regarding procurement of wheat and gunny bags (bardana) due to which the lifting and payment for crop was happening at snail’s pace. He said that the Captain government should wake up from its slumber and should take up the cause of the farmers. “Due to the lax arrangements of the ruling Congress government, the farmers are hassled and due to lack of gunny bags, the procurement and disbursement of the crop by the farmers of Punjab has been facing severe difficulties,” he added.
Sandhwan further said that over 48% wheat still remained unlifted from the mandis of the state which has exposed the Captain government’s tall claims. He said that this was due to the low supply of gunny bags (bardana) and the payment of wheat directly to the account of the farmers by ignoring the Arhtiyas.Taking a dig, Sandhwan said that Captain was deliberately harassing the farmers to please his boss PM Modi. “Captain Amarinder’s failure and collusion with Modi is the reason that the farmers are distressed and taking extreme steps,” he added. Sandhwan said that the Modi government at the Centre and the Captain government of the state together were harassing the farmers.
Questioning the Captain government, he asserted as to why arrangements were not made three months prior before the procurement period. Sandhwan said that due to lack of gunny bags and negligence of the state government, rain and inclement weather had also destroyed lakhs of tonnes of wheat in Punjab mandis, which was very unfortunate and worrisome. He said that the farmers of Punjab were already struggling against the three black farm laws and the attitude adopted by the government towards the farmers at such a time was reprehensible. He demanded the Punjab government to pace up the lifting and payment for crops to the farmers and make adequate arrangements for lifting of the remaining wheat in the mandis.
