SAD asks CM to tell why he kept farmers and Arhatiyas in the dark on DBT issue
Hike in fertilizer prices: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) asked Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to tell why he had kept the farmers and the ‘Arhatiyas’ in the dark vis a vis the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme being imposed by the Centre. It also accused him of playing a fixed match with the centre on this issue.
The party also demanded that the more than 50 per cent hike in fertilizer prices announced by the Central government be rolled back immediately. Also, it asked Captain Amarinder Singh why he was not opposing this measure aimed at punishing farmers for protesting against the three farm laws forcefully.
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While addressing a press conference, senior party leaders Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, Jathedar Tota Singh and Sikander Singh Maluka said the chief minister had made a big show of opposing the DBT scheme and had during a recent meeting with ‘arhatiyas’ announced that come what may all payments for foodgrain procurement would be routed through them only.
“However, the Punjab ministerial team led by finance minister Manpreet Badal abjectly surrendered before the centre in its meeting with Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday," they said.
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"It is also a fact that the Congress government had committed to writing to implement the scheme from the forthcoming Rabi season," they added.
"Despite this, the government resorted to a drama to befool the people in the same manner as the Congress party befooled and deceived all sections of society with false promises in the 2017 assembly elections,” the party leaders added.
Asserting that implementation of the new DBT scheme would increase social strife, Prof Chandumajra said ‘relations between farmers and ‘Arhatiyas’ would be poisoned and it would cause immense problems for those who leased out the land.
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