MP Vikramjit Singh demands special relief package for Punjab farmers
Alleged that the farmers have not yet been compensated for the loss of crops during floods in 2025
Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjit Singh on Monday urged the Centre to provide a special compensation package for Punjab farmers affected by unseasonal rains, hailstorms and strong winds.
He said the state faced back to back disasters as Kharif crops of 2015 were wiped out due to floods and now Rabi wheat was flattened by inclement weather conditions.
In a letter to the Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chouhan, Singh said Punjab has witnessed 30-70 per cent damage across 34 lakh hectares of wheat.
"While the state government is doing its bit, the need for central support is far greater. I demand a special compensation package, including enhanced direct relief and input subsidies, to safeguard farmers’ livelihoods and ensure national food security," the letter read.
The MP also alleged that the farmers have not yet been compensated for the loss of crops during floods in 2025.
"Timely central intervention is essential not only to safeguard farmers' livelihoods but also to sustain Punjab's critical contribution to national food security," he added.
Chouhan had directed officials, on Sunday, concerned to gather detailed reports of crop damage from states affected by inclement weather situations.
He also assured farmers that they do not need to worry and said that the government stands firmly with them in this hour of crisis.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that a fresh western disturbance will affect northwest India from April 7, triggering widespread rainfall, thunderstorms and hailstorms across Jammu-Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh through April 10.
Thundersqualls gusting up to 70 kmph are likely over parts of northwest and east India, it said.
The wheat crop, which has already matured in several parts of northern states and is in the last phase of ripening in remaining areas, is now facing delays in harvesting due to wet field conditions.
Farmers said that continued rainfall has made it difficult to operate harvesting machinery, pushing back the harvesting schedule.
