24x7 power supply: Paddy farmers thank CM

Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann today, while passing through Ropar district, halted in the Morinda area and met farmers working in the paddy fields.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sources said the farmers thanked Mann for the uninterrupted power supply they were getting in the paddy season.

The CM claimed that farmers told him that earlier they used to remain awake at night to water their paddy fields as power was released by the government only during the night hours in this season. However, now 24-hour power supply was available in the rural areas of the state. The farmers told me that now they watered and worked in their fields in the morning hours and slept in their houses at night. This was progress, he claimed.

The CM, when asked about the impact of the Yudh Nishian Virudh campaign of the government, said it had to be made a mass campaign by the people. The government could just assist them, but the people have to come forward at mass level against drugs to make the state free of drug addiction. Earlier, the people used to complain against the drug peddlers and as soon as the police used to nab them, phone calls came for their release. However, now the government was adopting zero tolerance towards drug peddling and with the help of people, it was having its effect at the ground level, he added.