Punjab Congress hails direct payment to farmers
Monday, 13/08/2012
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=45016&boxid=58858&uid=&dat=2012-08-13
Chandigarh: Punjab Congress on Sunday hailed the decision of the union agricultural ministry to provide direct relief to farmers hit by the drought in Punjab. The party said, only the direct relief to farmers will serve the desired purpose.
Reacting to the announcement made by the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in Chandigarh that the farmers in Punjab will get the relief payment directly through their Kisan Credit cards and bank accounts, Punjab Congress general secretary Arvind Khanna said, this is a welcome step and will throw the middlemen out. He pointed out, while the Akalis were opposed to it, the demand was raised by the Congress MPs.
Khanna had a dig at the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for opposing the move. He remarked, it was surprising that a party claiming itself to be the ‘pro-farmer’ could oppose something that was purely in farmers’ interest. He rapped the Akalis saying instead of welcoming the relief they were sulking just because they were denied the chance to manipulate and make commissions.
The Congress general secretary pointed out, the past experience had been quite disappointing as the Akali government had diverted the relief in 2009 and it was only after large scale protests by the farmers that they were given relief. “Even the relief farmers were provided was peanuts as the Akali government provided only Rs 150 crore to farmers while the actual amount that came as relief for the farmers from the centre was Rs 800 crore”, he pointed out.
He said, the Akalis frustration and disappointment is understandable. First, he remarked, they cannot digest the fact that the government of India has been providing relief and aid to farmers, second they were denied the chance to steal the credit and last not the least, they will not have any control over farmers’ relief hence no scope for manipulations.
