Punjab Govt mulls cane SAP announcement in February
Chandigarh, December 5
The Punjab Government could announce the State Agreed Price (SAP) of sugarcane in February, well before the sowing of the crop begins. Announcing the price in advance would help the farmers decide if they want to go in for cane cultivation.
Based on the demand made by representatives of farmer unions during a meeting, the Cabinet sub-committee comprising ministers Harpal Cheema, Kuldeep Dhaliwal and Gurmeet Singh Khudian said a decision in this regard would be taken by them, based on the recommendation of experts and farmers after thorough discussions.
A meeting of the experts has been convened on December 18, wherein this issue as well as introduction of new varieties of sugarcane in the state, will be discussed. The meeting between the ministers and farmers lasted for six hours. Representatives of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta-Sidhupur and the Sanyukt Ganna Sangarsh Morcha were present in the meeting.
Many important issues, including compensation for crop damage, acquisition of land for highways were also discussed. The Cabinet sub-committee members assured the farmers that a decision regarding crop damage compensation would be taken soon in the meeting of the state executive committee. The members also assured the farmer unions that a meeting of all the commissioners of the state would be convened to ensure that all such cases could be resolved within the next three months.
The sub-committee later held a meeting with Punjab Police Corona Volunteers, wherein it decided to constitute a committee comprising ADGP (HR) and two IG-level officers to study their case. They asked the committee to sympathetically study the issues and demands of volunteers and submit their report.
During the meeting with the representatives of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union, the Cabinet sub-committee discussed their demands. It assured the union that their main demands would be resolved in the coming days.
