Collusion of central and Punjab government ruined agriculture: Harpal Singh Cheema

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab senior and Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema termed the Channi government of the Congress; bent on ruining the agriculture of the state as the government of the specials, instead of common man, stating that both the policies and intentions of the Punjab government were the enemy of Punjab. He said that the Congress government, which had claimed in writing on January 19, 2017 to waive the entire loan of about Rs 90,000 crore of the farmers-laborers; the debt has now increased to about Rs 1.5 lakh crore. This includes loans raised from government, cooperative and private banks as well as from the unorganized sector.

He said that for this promise, forms were also filled from the farmers and laborers, but alas, as soon as the government was formed, the Congress showed its real ‘deceit’ character to the people. Addressing the media at the party headquarters here on Thursday, Harpal Singh Cheema said that if the Congress government had released Rs 300 crore of subsidy on time, it would have been in a position to say even a little something to save the agriculture; but the Congress party's always has a tradition of fraud. Due to the ill-intentioned and deadly policies of the Akali-BJP and the Congress governments for three decades, today the Punjab is being compelled to not only contemplate but also worry about the measures to save the agriculture. Because Harsimrat Kaur Badal being the Union Minister had signed all three black agriculture laws in Parliament and the people of Punjab will teach a lesson to the Badal family in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Cheema further said that Punjab, which once got the crown of an agricultural state, is in dire straits today; because whether it was the Akali-BJP government in Punjab, the Captain government or now the Channi government of the Congress, all of them left no stone unturned to snatch the happiness of the farmers and their families. Due to the bad intentions and fatal policies of the governments till now, hundreds of farmers are forced to commit suicide every year and many farmers have got huge debt on their heads, due to which the ‘annadatas’ are now unable to save even their land.

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The AAP leader said that the ‘annadatas’ of Punjab, who feed the entire country, are facing the brunt of the narrow thinking of the Punjab government. There is no outsider responsible for destroying the happiness of the farmers’ families, but the Akali Dal-BJP and the Congress, which have been ruling Punjab till now. Cheema said that now CM Charanjit Singh Channi is trying to mislead the people again. Taking a dig at CM Channi, Cheema asked whether he (Channi) will waive the entire loan or not? “If you do, then declare its time limit and the entire loan of the farmers and laborers should be waived before the code of conduct is implemented,” said Cheema.

He said that if the Channi government cannot keep this promise, then all other things were just a hoax, as the main issue of the farmers and laborers was financial crisis and debt. This is the reason for the farmers’ suicides and times of despair. Along with this, the Aam Aadmi Party, while reacting to withdraw the case on stubble burning, asked who has filed cases against the farmers and why? The AAP said that the ‘annadatas’ were already on the verge of being marginalized by the deadly policies of the Congress government and now the Congress government was also trying to snatch their breath. Cheema questioned that the Punjab government does not have the option/solution to stop the farmers from burning stubble, so should a case be registered against the government as well? Chief Minister Channi should answer this.

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On the compensation amount of only Rs 17,000 to the farmers for the crop affected by pink bollworm, the Aam Aadmi Party said that the Congress government cannot escape the questions of the farmers due to this pretence. The AAP asked Chief Minister Channi whether this amount was enough to compensate for the damage caused to the crops. The crops on which Rs 60-70 thousand were spent per acre, the compensation amount of only Rs 17,000 was a mockery of farming.

For the farmers already in debt, this compensation amount will serve as rubbing salt in the wounds. He further slammed the Punjab government for overstepping the rate hike for milk producing farmers, stating that the government was only insisting on making announcements, but when the time comes to spend money; the government runs away. Cheema cautioned the people and the farmers of Punjab to be wary of the hollow announcements of the Channi government, as all these were mere election stunts. He said that Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi should tell the farmers of Punjab that when will their time bound loan waiver be done?