Big fish being let off: Jakhar

Chandigarh, October 9

Terming the investigation into the pesticide scam a sham, the leader of Opposition Sunil Jakhar has demanded that the government should catch big fish involved in allowing spurious pesticides to pervade the market.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Jakhar has also accused the Akali-BJP government of being biased while releasing compensation to farmers who have suffered crop losses. “Of the 11.25 lakh acres of area under cotton, crop on 8.60 lakh acres has been damaged. The government has announced a Rs 643-crore compensation for farmers, which is being distributed in a biased manner. The rules say that compensation cannot be released to farmers who have over 10 acres of land. Though farmers having over 10 acres in Lambi — the constituency of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal – are getting compensation for crop loss, in my own constituency of Fazilka, even genuine cases are not being considered for compensation,” he said. — TNS