Chandigarh, November 2: Extending a helping hand to the cotton growers of the Malwa belt in wake of the recent Pink Bollworm attack, the Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has approved the norms of compensation to be given to the cotton growers in lieu of the damage caused to their crops.
In order to provide relief to the labourers engaged in cotton picking, CM Channi gave nod to include 10% additional funds over and above the total funds demanded by the concerned districts on count of compensation for the damaged crop.
According to a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office, CM Channi has given go ahead for the compensation amount of Rs. 12,000 per acre to be paid to the farmers for the damage caused to the crops to the extent of 76 to 100%.
Meanwhile, CM Channi also directed the Revenue department to credit the compensation amount directly into the accounts of farmers/farm workers positively before Diwali.
Notably, these decisions have been taken on the basis of the consensus emerged in the meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister on October 28 to review the status of Pink Bollworm compensation. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Agriculture Minister Randeep Singh Nabha, Special Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner Revenue VK Janjua, Principal Secretary Finance KAP Sinha, Principal Secretary Transport K Siva Prasad, Financial Commissioner Development DK Tiwari, Principal Secretary to CM Hussan Lal and Special Principal Secretary to CM Varun Roojam.
