Ex-MLA seeks compensation for cotton farmers

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 18

Demanding compensation for the farmers whose cotton crop was damaged in the last week’s hailstorm, former SAD MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner B Srinivasan.

Talking to mediapersons outside the Deputy Commissioner office, Sidhu said, “Cotton farmers in Talwandi Sabo have suffered huge losses due to the hailstorm that lashed different parts of the region last week. As per an estimate, cotton crop spread over 10,000 acres in 25 villages has been damaged. However, it is unfortunate that none of the administration officials have visited the affected areas to take stock of the situation till date.”

The SAD leader said they had urged the Deputy Commissioner to order a special girdawari so that a comprehensive report on crop loss could be submitted to the state government and farmers could gget adequate compensation.

He demanded that the government should give Rs50,000 per acre as compensation to the farmers, apart from Rs10,000 to farm labourers.

The former MLA added that the previous SAD-BJP government had extended a compensation of Rs8,000 per acre to the cotton farmers when their crop bore the brunt of a pest attack four years ago.