Paddy transplantation across fence to begin after June 10

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 17

The state government has already fixed June 19 as the starting date for paddy transplantation in the district and now it has relaxed the norms for the farmers tilling land across the barbed fence alongside the International Border with Pakistan in view of the problems faced by them. These farmers are allowed to transplant paddy after June 10.

The farmers tilling their lands across the fence have to go through strict security checks. The working hours in the fields on the other side of the fence are also restricted due to security reasons. Unlike the farmers tilling their land on this side of the fence who can work throughout day and night, those tilling land on the other side have only fixed hours, out of which too, a lot of time is wasted during security checks.

A farmer owning land on the other side of the fence said, “Proper identity documents even for farm labourers are required. Usually, labourers work from early in the morning to late in the evening in normal conditions, but across the fence, they get only seven to eight hours maximum on a daily basis.” He said, “It is good that the government has relaxed the norms for them, otherwise they would have to face huge problems.”

Farmers’ leader Rattan Singh Randhawa said farming on the land across the border fence was a difficult job considering that it was a 24-hour job. “During harvesting and sowing of crops, farmers work day and night to complete the work. The security norms should be relaxed or it could be done in such a way as it takes very less time,” he added.

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