JALANDHAR: Emphasizing the immediate need for a collective fight against the three agriculture ordinances introduced by the union government to safeguard the interests of farmers and youth, the Cooperation and Jails Minister Punjab Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa today strongly urged the people to join hands for saving the Kisani (Farming) and Jawani (Youth) of the state.
Addressing the gathering, after unfurling the national flag in Guru Gobind Singh Stadium during 74th Independence Day celebrations, the Minister appealed the people especially youth, farmers’ organizations and others to work in unison to compel the union government for withdrawing these ordinances which would eliminate Minimum Support Price (MSP).
He questioned the union government why it had not announced MSP for maize, pulses, sunflower crop due to which farmers were forced to sell the crop on meagre price. The Minister said that how the farmers of Punjab would be able to do marketing of the crop without MSP hence the ordinances will add only woes for the farming community.
He said that Punjab had remained at the forefront always in crop procurement and farmers were receiving the payment for their crop on the basis of MSP. Meanwhile, Randhawa said that it was the bounden duty of all of us to make dedicated efforts for fulfilling the aspirations of our great freedom fighters, who laid down their lives for the motherland.
Minister said that it was a matter of pride for him to preside over this function at Jalandhar as it was the part of Doaba region which has produced maximum freedom fighters in the country as iconic hero Shaheed Bhagat Singh and heroes of the Gadar movement and Babar Akali movement hailed from this soil.
He also said that his father and former Punjab Minister late S. Santokh Singh Randhawa had also unfurled the flag during such function in the 1980s. On Covid-19 pandemic, he stated Punjab Government has been waging a war against this virus and asserted that Punjab will emerge victorious with the relentless hard work of Covid warriors.
He said that the situation Punjab was under control as compared to some other states. He sought fulsome support from the public in adhering all health safety protocols to contain the further spread of the virus.
He said that Punjab Government has set up plasma banks in Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot Government Medical Colleges and appealed those recovering from infections, must donate plasma for ensuring the speedy recovery of critical Covid patients.
He said that Punjab Government led by the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, has been fulfilling its all promises made to the people during run-up to 2017- assembly polls and recently, it has launched ‘Punjab Smart Connect Scheme and distributed smartphones to class XII students of government schools to empower them digitally amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
Randhawa said that till now the state government has provided jobs to more than 13 lakh unemployed youth under Ghar Ghar Rozgar Yojna besides waiving off debt worth Rs 4700 crore of more than five lakh farmers.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori and Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar felicitated the Minister with a momento.
Prominent amongst others present on the occasion included MLAs Sushil Kumar Rinku, Rajinder Beri, Avtar Singh Bawa Henry and Chaudhary Surinder Singh, Mayor Jagdish Raj Raja and others.
On the occasion, Divisional Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhary, Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori, Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, SSP Jalandhar Rural Satinder Singh, Commissioner Municipal Corporation Karunesh Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioners Vishesh Sarangal and Jasbir Singh, Deputy Commissioners of Police Arun Saini, Sub Divisional Magistrate Rahul Sindhu and Dr Jai Inder Singh, Joint MC Commissioner Innayat, Shayri Malhotra, Assistant Commissioner Harpreet Singh, Hardeep Singh, Lt.Col.(Retd.) Manmohan Singh and others.