Partap Singh Bajwa is the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha and Congress MLA from Qadian. (FIle) Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha and Congress MLA from Qadian, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Thursday said that the Punjab government should give directions to both the co-operative mills and private mills to release nearly Rs 800 crore due to sugarcane farmers of Punjab.
“On March 22, I had written to the Chief Minister regarding the release of almost Rs 800 crore to sugarcane farmers of Punjab. Till date I have received no response or acknowledgement of the same,” Bajwa said in a written statement on Thursday.
“This situation is untenable as the sugarcane farmers’ of the state have not been paid since February. Farm unions held a rail roko at Beas on March 27 demanding the release of dues and later protested on the Pathankot-Jalandhar highway for the same. Yet till date there has been no response from the state government,” Bajwa said.
“The Aam Aadmi Party came to power on a platform of change with a stated goal of listening to the people of Punjab. Yet, it has been almost a month since I highlighted this issue and various farmers have begun protesting and there seems to be no visible action on the same. Crop diversification is the need of the hour in Punjab and the inaction of the government over this issue will irrevocably harm diversification efforts and our farmers. The government must treat this issue as most urgent and give directions to both the co-operative mills and private mills to release these funds immediately. The economic distress faced by our farmers must be a priority issue for the government,” he said.
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