SAD demands compensation for farmers in Seed scam, pegs loss at Rs 4,000 crore
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday demanded immediate compensation for the Rs 4,000 crore likely losses suffered by farmers of Punjab in the inter-State Seed scam even as it proved that Karnal Agri Seeds Company, which was the main culprit in the Seed scam, had registered a fake address as its branch office in Haryana.
Former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said that if one were take into account that spurious PR 128 and PR 129 paddy variety seed was sold to only around 15 percent farmers in Punjab, the extent of the fraud came to above Rs 4,000 crore.
He also said that he was calculating this on the basis of the Rs 30,000 crore Cash Credit Limit (CCL) extended to Punjab by the centre to procure paddy grown on 60 lakh acres.
Meanwhile, Majithia disclosed that the 850 quintal of spurious seed recovered from Brar Seeds Store alone as per the Ludhiana chief agricultural officer had caused a loss of Rs 105 crores to farmers as it would have been grown on 21,000 acres. “There are at least 1200 big seed stores in Punjab and most of them had been supplied spurious seed by the inter-State gang headquartered in Dera Baba Nanak”.
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The SAD leader said that the Punjab government should immediately forward the case to the CBI or hand over the inquiry to a sitting judge of the high court. He also urged the Haryana and Rajasthan governments to probe the scam and save farmers of their States who had been cheated by the scamsters.
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-PTC News
