In a major relief to the farmers of the border areas of the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today directed all the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of the border districts to disburse the compensation to farmers having land across the fence within a week.Addressing the mammoth gathering here in a state level function to inaugurate the distribution of this compensation here today, the Chief Minister said that hundreds of farmers having land around 21000 acres across the fence would avail the benefit of this major initiative taken by the state government. He said that the state government was duty bound to forever extend a helping hand to the brave farmers of the border region, who face a lot of hardships due to fencing. Mr. Badal said that no stone would be left unturned to help these valiant sons of the soil.The Chief Minister said that he was well aware of the peculiar situation of these farmers due to which he had always raised this matter with the Government of India. He said that the alliance government had in 1997-2002 regime initiated the scheme of giving relief worth Rs 2500 per acre to the farmers and now it has been enhanced to Rs 10,000 per acre. Mr. Badal described it as humble tribute from the state government in recognition to the sufferings faced by the farmers of this region.
However, the Chief Minister said that the Congress governments both in the state and centre had never bothered about the interests of the farmers. He said that the Congress regime led by Captain Amarinder Singh had discontinued this compensation. Coming down heavily on the state Congress Chief, Mr. Badal said that debt waiver campaign of state Congress Chief was a big fraud adding that Captain's tenure was best remembered for his anti - farmer stance but now he was indulging in all sorts of tantrums to win over their support by spreading canards.Describing the resignation by Captain Amarinder Singh and 42 other Congress MLAs as a mere political stunt, the Chief Minister, while recalling the grave conspiracy conceived by Congress to divest the state of its legitimate share in river waters, held the then Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi squarely responsible for Punjab's crisis as she forced the erstwhile Congress Chief Minister of Punjab Mr. Darbara Singh into signing an agreement to give away Punjab's waters to Haryana forcing him to withdraw the Supreme Court Case filed by him to protect Punjab river water interests. Mr. Badal also held state Congress Chief Amarinder Singh responsible for inviting Mrs. Indira Gandhi to start the digging of the canal at Kapuri in his own constituency Patiala by offering her a silver spade to start the digging. He said that while Congress rejoiced the occasion, the SAD had launched a long peaceful democratic morcha for Punjab's interests as a result of which no river waters went out of Punjab after that.
The Chief Minister, while asserting that SYL would never become a reality, today exhorted the people to make every sacrifice to protect the river waters of the state. Mr. Badal categorically stated that Punjab doesn’t have a single drop of spare water for anybody adding that SYL agreement was a grave injustice done by the successive Congress governments with the state. He said that Akali Dal was opposed to this agreement, which robbed the water of state, from day one adding that now also they were firm to their stand to not allow the construction of this canal at any cost.Taking the Congress party to cudgels, the Chief Minister said that the Punjabis could never forgive the Congress party for its sins against Punjab. He said that any true Punjabi would never forget Operation Blue Star and the killing of thousands of innocents in 1984 anti-Sikh carnage adding that Congress could never be forgiven for perpetrating these sinister moves.Listing the major pro-people initiatives taken by the state government, the Chief Minister said that the SAD-BJP alliance government has supplied free power to the farmers of the state at a cost of Rs 5000 crore annually to bail them out from agrarian crisis. He further said that Punjab was the only state in the country to provide Atta-Dal scheme to the weaker sections adding that it was also the only state to ensure free treatment for fatal diseases like Cancer and Hepatitis C.
Mr. Badal further said that in another historic decision it has been decided that all the farmers would be provided a health insurance cover of Rs.50,000 and an insurance of Rs.5 lac in case of accidental death or incapacitation of head of family.The Chief Minister said that only Shiromani Akali Dal was the true custodian of the interests of Punjab and its people. He said that the last around ten years of rule of SAD-BJP alliance was testimony to the fact that the state government has delivered every promise made to people. “The alliance delivers whereas the other political parties just mislead the people by unleashing malicious propaganda”, added Mr. Badal.The Chief Minister called upon the people to hand over the control of their destiny in right hands by forming SAD-BJP alliance government for third consecutive term. He said that every vote for alliance in coming poll would be a vote for stability, development, peace and right governance in the state.Earlier, in his address, Revenue, Information & Public Relations Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia thanked the Chief Minister for taking keen interest in mitigating the woes of the farming community. He said that the state government has taken several path breaking initiatives like free power, Atta-Dal scheme, release of tube well connections and others for the well being of every strata of society. Mr. Majithia also hailed the Chief Minister for generously allocating funds for the development of the border regions of the state.
Complementing the Chief Minister for burying the Satluj Yamuna Link issue for ever by de-notifying the land and giving it back to farmers, Mr. Majithia described the Chief Minister as the true custodian of the rights of the farming community. Quipping on the inaccessibility of state Congress Chief Captain Amarinder Singh, he said that the former Chief Minister was least worried about the state and its people. Training guns against Delhi Chief Minister Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Majithia questioned his stoic silence over the SYL issue adding that Kejriwal & Co. were ‘political chameleons’ who frequently changed their color on SYL issue.On the occasion, the Chief Minister and Mr. Majithia also handed over the cheques of compensation to the eligible beneficiaries.Prominent amongst other present on the occasion included MLAs Prof. Virsa Singh Valtoha, Mr. Harmeet Singh Sandhu and Mr. Baljeet Singh Jalaal Usma, Mrs. Perneet Kaur Kairon, Joint Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. Kumar Amit, Deputy Inspector General of Police Mr. AK Mittal, Deputy Commissioner Mr. DPS Kharbanda and Senior Superintendent of Police Mr. Manmohan Sharma.