Chandigarh: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday directed party’s halqa incharges and district presidents to help distressed farmers whose standing wheat crop had been completely damaged across 1.25 lakh acres due to rain and hailstorm.
Sukhbir held a meeting with the party leaders and said that a detailed plan had been charted to start distribution of wheat as well as dry and green fodder to the affected farmers after April 20. “We are creating nodal points for collection of the relief material which then will be distributed in the affected villages,” he added.
He said the party would also extend help to small farmers whose vegetable produce had been damaged due to the recent hailstorm.
The SAD president also took on chief minister Bhagwant Mann for failing to fulfill his responsibility towards the suffering farmers. He said the chief minister as well as the Aam Aadmi Party, before coming to power in 2022, had announced that it would provide an advance compensation of ₹50,000 per acre for crop damage before any survey or ‘girdwari’.
He said the AAP government had failed to release any compensation for crop damage following the floods across 4 lakh acres last year. “Now also the government has refused to help the distressed farmers by releasing compensation to them,” he added.
To contest civic body polls on party symbol
Sukhbir told the party cadres to gear up for the civic body election as the polls will be contested on the party symbol. The party, according to Sukhbir, will contest the election as a semifinal to the upcoming state polls scheduled next year.
