Sangrur, Sep 20: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state unit president Bhagwant Mann said on Tuesday that they would join the September 22 protest of farmers, wherein unions plan to march to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s house in Patiala to underline how the state government has not kept its promises, including that of debt waiver. Already, police have cracked down on the prospective protesters and issued prohibitory orders against assembly of people in Patiala.
“After six months, Amarinder Singh has failed to even appoint a full-time agriculture minister in a state where farmers are committing suicide daily,” said Mann who, being the Lok Sabha member from Sangrur, was here to chair a meeting of the district development, coordination and monitoring committee.
Saying that the Congress government has disappointed farmers on the debt waiver promise, he added, “The chief minister has not visited Punjab six times in the six months of Congress’ being in power. He has taken charge of several ministries himself, but has not appointed an agriculture or even a sports minister. The government is being run by bureaucrats, and there is no hearing for the common man.”
“During his poll campaign, Amarinder Singh said he would not tolerate even one farmer’s death in his regime; but suicides are taking place regularly. Some farmers even mentioned Amarinder’s name in their suicide notes. Now, when farmers plan to hold protest outside his residence, he is sending farmers to jail. To stage protest is a democratic right, and the AAP will also join the farmers’ protest scheduled for September 22.”
Meanwhile, during the monitoring committee meeting, representatives of MLAs of the district raised several development issues, including sewerage, drinking water, canal bridges, shortage of doctors, and burning of crop stubble.
“There is panic among the farmers that they will be booked if they burn stubble. I told the deputy commissioner to arrange alternatives,” Mann said.
Representatives of MLAs also demanded repair of three roads that links Sangrur with Barnala district.
Deputy commissioner Amar Partap Singh Virk, additional DC (development) Rajinder Batra, and assistant commissioner Deepjot Kaur also attended the meeting.
News Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com
