Amritsar: Farmers seek compensation for loss of animals due to lumpy skin disease

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 5

Farmers under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha staged a protest outside the residences of the Cabinet Ministers from the district demanding fair compensation for loss of animals due to lumpy skin disease (LSD) on Monday.

The protests were held outside the office of Panchayat Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal at Ajnala and outside the residences of Local Bodies Minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar and Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO.

Fix msp for milk

A hybrid cow costs over Rs 1 lakh. Many farmers have lost more than one animal. The farmers will not be able to recover from the loss unless the govt comes to their aid. The government should also fix minimum support price for milk. —Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala, A protester

The farm leaders stated that hundreds of cows of hybrid breeds have died due to the lumpy skin disease and the dairy farmers have suffered huge losses. The farmers also stated that the actual number of deaths of cows was much higher than what was being reported by the government officials.

Addressing the protestors outside the residence of Dr Nijjar, farm leaders Rattan Singh Randhawa, Jatinder Singh Chinna and others demanded that an assessment of the losses incurred by the farmers should be done and they should be compensated fairly as the government had not been able to effectively contain the disease in time.

The farmers stated that dairy farming was the main subsidiary occupation of the agriculture sector and with agriculture already proving to be a loss-making venture, a large number of farmers had invested in dairy farming.

Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala, who led the protest at Ajnala along with Dhanwant Singh Khatraekalan and others, stated, “A hybrid cow costs over Rs 1 lakh. Many farmers have lost more than one animal and some have even lost four or five cows.” He said the farmers would not be able to recover from the loss unless the government comes to their aid.

The farmer leaders also demanded that in order to make dairy farming a profitable business, the government should also fix minimum support price for milk.

Another farmer leader Lakhbir Singh Nizampura said, “There is a huge gap in the price at which milk is procured from producers and at which it is sold to the consumers.” He said a check by the government was required to ensure that the farmers get a just price for the milk they produce at their dairy farms.

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#Lumpy Skin Disease #Minimum Support Price MSP