66,000 farmers reported crop loss on 38.5 lakh acres, says Krishan Lal Panwar

The Development and Panchayats Minister Krishan Lal Panwar stated that 66,000 farmers in the state have reported crop damage across 38.5 lakh acres for compensation on e-kshatipurti portal. He said the verification work would begin soon, and the final report was expected to be finalised by the state government by September 25.

He was here today to chair the monthly meeting of the District Public Relations and Public Grievance Committee. The Cabinet Minister said the Nayab Singh Saini-led state government was providing compensation at the rate of Rs 15,000 per acre. He claimed that the successive BJP governments had disbursed compensation of Rs 15,465 crore to farmers over the past 11 years.

Taking a swipe at the previous Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Panwar said, “While Hooda now demands Rs 70,000 per acre as compensation, his government gave a maximum of only Rs 6,000– Rs 7,000 per acre. I still remember compensation cheques of as little as Rs 2 or Rs 3 being issued to farmers.”

During the meeting, he listened to 14 public complaints out of which, eight were resolved on the spot, while six were deferred to the next meeting with instructions to officials concerned to ensure their timely resolution.

The minister while responding to a complaint by Gyan Chand Goyal, a resident of Urban Estate-2, Hisar, directed the actual complainant to join the investigation within two weeks.

Besides, the minister directed officials to award compensation to complainant Indro Devi of Badhawar village, who alleged fraud involving a tractor loan taken in her name without her consent. He also directed prompt recovery of the tractor. The police, however, reported that one accused was arrested in this connection, and the second would be apprehended soon.