MALWA COTTON FARMERS WANT `3,000CR RELIEF
Friday, 18/09/2015
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BATHINDA: Cotton farmers in the Malwa belt have rejected the `10 crore compensation announced by the state government for damage incurred due to the whitefly attack.
Demanding more compensation, hundreds of farmers under the banner of eight farmer unions, started indefinite protest outside mini-secretariat here on Thursday. The farmers also rubbished the figures presented by the government after the first girdawari. On basis of these figures, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has recently announced `10 crore compensation to affected farmers.
Joginder Singh, president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugarahan), said the farmers who had to uproot the cotton crop have suffered 100% damage. There are many farmers whose cotton plants failed to develop due to the whitefly attack, he said.
“The government must announce a relief package of more than `3,000 crore”, Joginder Singh said.
FARMER DIES DURING PROTEST
A farmer identified as Mandar Singh, a resident of Kilianwali in Bathinda district, died due to cardiac arrest during farmers’ protest on Thursday. He was rushed to the civil hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
