Punjab Basmati farmers to get Rs 17,000 per acre relief; 'rail roko' stir postponed
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday announced a relief of Rs 17,000 per acre to Basmati growers, whose crops have been substantially damaged due to hailstorms during the past Kharif season. Following this, the Kisan Majdoor Sangharsh Committee has postponed its 'Rail Roko' agitation.
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However, Punjab CM Channi said 'Rail Roko' agitation had already adversely impacted the supply of urea and DAP across Punjab, thus further accentuating their woes, especially during the current Rabi season.
Several issues, including the cases registered against farmers in Delhi and by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) during farmers' agitation, debt waiver, providing jobs and compensation to the families of the farmers who sacrificed their lives during farmers' agitation, compensation for crop damage, crop insurance and making the payment process easy for Abadkars (farmers who have been tilling the land in occupation since long without any ownership rights) were deliberated at length. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="708"]
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The Punjab Chief Minister assured the delegation that he would soon take up the matter with Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the prompt withdrawal of cases registered against farmers by the Delhi Police as well as the RPF during the yearlong agitation against farm laws.
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Reiterating his government's solidarity with the victim families of farm agitation who lost their family members, Punjab CM Channi assured the delegation that most of the names mentioned in their list of such farmers had already been considered to provide financial compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a government job.
On the delegation's request, CM Channi also agreed to include the names of three farmers who died earlier in yet another agitation prior to the yearlong farm struggle as a special case for consideration of similar relief in terms of financial compensation and a government job to their eligible family members.
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Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi[/caption]
Giving a major relief to Abadkars, CM Channi directed the Colonisation Department to work out modalities for bestowing ownership rights on those tillers in occupation of land since long after allowing them to make payment in four instalments in this regard.
Acceding to another demand of the delegation, CM Channi said to ensure farmers must get the remunerative price of their produce, the Punjab Government would soon come out with a policy for covering all those crops under the state MSP, which are currently not covered under the minimum support price (MSP) regime by the Centre.
-PTC News
Several issues, including the cases registered against farmers in Delhi and by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) during farmers' agitation, debt waiver, providing jobs and compensation to the families of the farmers who sacrificed their lives during farmers' agitation, compensation for crop damage, crop insurance and making the payment process easy for Abadkars (farmers who have been tilling the land in occupation since long without any ownership rights) were deliberated at length.
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