Chandigarh, Oct 24 (UNI) The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday asked Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to order an immediate Girdwari to ascertain the damage caused to crops due to hail storm and heavy rains during the last few days at various places in Punjab.
In a statement here, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said the Chief Minister should not only order an immediate girdwari but also set a time frame for award of compensation to farmers. “Farmers are yet to get any compensation for crop damages they suffered due to widespread rain in September this year. Even the girdwari process for the same was not completed on time. Similarly the government has dragged its feet in conducting a survey of the damage caused due to pink bollworm attack on the cotton crop”.
Asserting that farmers were suffering due to the new culture of making empty announcements, Mr Majithia said “there is a new trend to announce relief by the Chief Minister which never reaches the farmers. We have seen this in the case of earlier girdwari announced following heavy downpour and even during the pink bollworm attack on the cotton crop last month. In both cases, even though the government claimed it was giving relief to farmers and also issued advertisements to this effect, not a single farmer received Rs one in any kind of relief”.