Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Sidhupur) protests against Punjab govt for not giving compensation for destroyed crops

Amritsar, May 4 (IANS) Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Sidhupur) have staged a protest against the Punjab government in the Khur Manian village of Punjab's Amritsar district.

The farmers have alleged that their crops are getting destroyed and the Aam Aadmi Party government is not giving any financial compensation for their crop produce.

While speaking to IANS, farmer leaders Jaswinder Singh and Gurwinder Singh of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) accused the state government of negligence towards the welfare of farmers.

The protesting farmers said, "The farmers targeted the AAP government for not providing proper arrangements for storing their crops in Khas Mandi."

"It is the rainy season, it is cloudy due to which wheat will get destroyed. The Punjab Ministers are sitting in their offices and making completely false promises. At the same time, all the wheat has got wet due to the rain throughout the night. The wheat that was brought from the markets on April 17 have not been purchased yet," they added.

The protesting farmers said, "Large quantity of wheat was destroyed due to a recent fire incident in Faridkot. The wheat got destroyed due to bad weather. We were very happy that our crop has been harvested. But now the crop is getting spoiled, so what is our fault, we are farmers. The government should come here and see what is happening to our crops? We are being harassed. We sit in the market the whole day, but our crop has not been purchased yet. By selling this crop, we will get our children admitted to school. We will have to return the money from whom we borrowed it. If our crops remain unsold, then how will we get the money to pay?"

Meanwhile, Navdeep Kaur, Attari market committee Secretary, said, "An illegal market has been set up at a house in Khur Manian village of Khasa, whose license has been cancelled for 15 days due to which it cannot be purchased. If farmers are facing any problem in Hoshiar Nagar village, it will be resolved soon and farmers will be informed about it soon. Farmers will not be allowed to face any kind of inconvenience."

--IANS

sch/abm/khz