Border residents pin hopes on Chief Minister’s visit

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 11

With Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal all set to hold Sangat Darshan in the border villages in the Attari segment tomorrow, the residents are hoping that the state government will wake up to their plight and bail them out of their troubles. Talking to The Tribune, Gurnam Singh, a farmer from Daoke village, which is surrounded by Pakistan from three sides, said, “The lone bridge leading to our village is in a dilapidated state. The day it collapses, we will be cut off from the rest of the country.” He said they also didn't have access to clean drinking water. Besides, he said the farmers in their village as also in the nearby Hardo Rattan village were yet to receive compensation of Rs 3,000 per acre announced by the state government for the farmers having their land across the fence.

Gurdeep Singh from Rajatal village said rampant drug addiction among the youth was a major problem with many of them hooked to drugs like smack. He said the government must initiate measures not only to cut the supply chain of drugs but also to de-addict and rehabilitate these youth. Another farmer, Sham Singh from Dhanoe Kalan village, said the state of affairs in the border villages was pathetic as the government schools lacked adequate infrastructure and staff while the healthcare services, too, were in bad shape.

Farmer leader Rattan Singh Randhawa said, “With a neighbour like Pakistan and in view of the recent ceasefire violations by it along the International Border in Jammu, the people in Punjab’s border villages are virtually sitting in the jaws of death. The government must take note of their plight and facilitate job avenues to the border youth.” He said the government had set up a committee in the 1990s to provide employment to the youth in the border belt, but it was dissolved within six months. He demanded that the committee should be restored.

“The people here are not seeking high-profile jobs from the government. They only want that their wards be absorbed in paramilitary forces or the government sector.” He said the government should also address the issue of canal water system, which had almost collapsed in the border villages. Besides, he said there should be a separate feeder to cater to the demand of border farmers. “When the farmers are allowed to cross the fence to cultivate their land, there is no power supply. A separate feeder will ensure that they will get the power when they need it,” he added.

The farmer leader also urged the state government to take up the case of compensation to the farmers having their land across the fence with the Centre and enhance their compensation amount to at least Rs 10,000 per acre.