In an initiative aimed at safeguarding the interests of farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday announced that in the future farmers incurring any loss from a natural disaster would be duly compensated prior to completion of the assessment.
Addressing a gathering during a function organised to distribute compensation to farmers who have lost their crop due to Pink worm attack, the Chief Minister said that it is unfortunate that food growers get the compensation after a long and troublesome process of assessment of crop loss.
"This will be reversed and now farmers will get compensation prior to assessment as already being done in Delhi. This will be instrumental in saving the undue harassment of farmers for getting compensation after a cumbersome process," Mann said.
The Chief Minister said that in the Malwa belt, farmers had lost their cotton crop not because of an attack by the white and pink worm, but because of the supply of poor quality seeds and pesticides.
He announced that a thorough enquiry will be conducted in this regard and strict action will be taken against those who had supplied these spurious seeds and pesticides to farmers.
Hitting out at the previous Congress government in the state, Mann said that the real culprits for the loss of farmers were not the attack of white or pink worm but it the was the then government that supplied poor seeds and pesticides to farmers.
"If the then government had performed its duty well and ensured supply of good seeds and pesticides then the farmers would not have faced such hardships. The successive governments have turned the food growers of the country into beggars, who have to face a lot of exploitation for getting the compensation of their losses," he said.
Talking about the historic decision regarding pensions of MLAs, the Chief Minister said that this decision has been welcomed by the entire country.
"The state exchequer is meant for the general public and will be spent only for their well being. In Delhi, an MLA gets Rs 54,000 as salary including all allowances whereas a former MLA gets pension worth Rs 7,200.," Mann said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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