Release Rs 300 cr package for dairy farmers, Sukhbir to Punjab govt
Darpan News Desk IANS, 29 Aug, 2022 11:50 AM
Chandigarh, Aug 29 (IANS) Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday demanded Punjab's Aam Aadmi Party government release a Rs 300 crore comprehensive compensation package for dairy farmers whose livelihood is at stake after their milch animals fell prey to lumpy skin disease (LSD).
Castigating the government for failing to come to the aid of dairy farmers by refusing to release compensation of Rs 50,000 per cattle head for more than 50,000 cattle deaths, he said: "Now it appears a more comprehensive package is needed to help dairy farmers whose cattle were hit by the contagious disease but survived.
"The cattle are recording a fall in milk production by more than 20 per cent. Lakhs of farmers have also spent huge amounts of money to treat their milch animals with the Animal Husbandry Department falling short in treating animals and even in releasing vaccines to counter the disease. All of them should be duly compensated as the entire dairy sector is in a state of crisis."
Badal also demanded the government fulfill the assurance given during the Budget session in the Vidhan Sabha that it would increase milk procurement prices to Rs 55 per kilogram fat.
"This promise was to be fulfilled by both MILKFED and the Punjab government. While MILKFED started paying farmers Rs 20 per kg fat from May 21, the Punjab government is yet to pay dairy farmers Rs 35 per kg fat since the last three months."
Asserting that the dairy sector had been strengthened in Punjab over the last few decades with the aim of increasing farm income through allied activities, Badal said then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal even entrusted this responsibility to the state farmers' commission formed by him.
"This step resulted in a radical improvement in the quality of livestock in Punjab. All these gains will be frittered away in case the present government does not compensate farmers for the huge losses suffered by them. The entire white revolution exercise will fall flat," he added.
Asserting that the vaccination exercise against LSD was still incomplete even though the disease had broken out in July, Badal said, "It is even more condemnable that the Animal Husbandry Department has failed to release money for treatment against LSD and the district administration has been forced to direct the village panchayats to foot this bill."
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said the move is aimed at sprucing up the health and education infrastructure of Punjab by replicating the Delhi model in both these core sectors.
After launching the web-portal amidst presence of DIG (Cyber Crime) Nilambari Jagdale and DSP Samarpal Singh, the DGP congratulated the entire team for developing this user-friendly portal, which could be easily accessed by anyone to report cyber frauds.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla noted that the interim status report filed by the Delhi Police shows that the police force failed to prevent miscreants from reaching the residence of the Chief Minister and vandalising the area.
In a record, the Punjab Government said it cleared payments of Rs 13,000 crore of farmers for procurement of wheat till Monday, state Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said. He said this was the highest payment in the past decade.
The victims, both from West Bengal, were rushed to the SMHS hospital in Srinagar, where the condition of one is stated to be critical while the other is stable.
A case in this connection was registered against Ranjit Gogoi, the then Director of Information and Public Relation, Assam, and different private companies, for alleged misappropriation of the state government's money. The ED had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of CM's Vigilance Cell FIR lodged in 2017 against the accused.
