JALANDHAR: :-Giving an apparent warning to Punjab government over arrests of debtor farmers in the state, Mahila Kisan Union President Bibi Rajwinder Kaur Raju has dared the Bhagwant Maan dispensation not the harass the farmers indebted through agricultural development banks and cooperative societies and forewarned that farmers unions would be forced to launch statewide struggle on the issue if the arrests of tillers did not stopped immediately.
In a statement here on Thursday, Mahila Kisan Union President Rajwinder Kaur Raju categorically said the state government itself would be held responsible for this mess. She also called upon the farmers to be ready for the agitation and urged all the women to give their full support to the brethren farmers on the agricultural issues so that the problems of farming could be resolved.
Lamenting on the blatant recovery orders issued by various state cooperative banks and societies Bibi Raju said the Punjab farmers were already in a lot of trouble due to the decline in wheat production in this Rabbi season and now the ‘Tughlaq order’ to arrest the debtors by the banks has put the farmers to sleepless.
Women farmer leader alleged that after lathi-charging the farmers recently at Muktsar Sahib, on the directive of AAP government, the cooperative banks has now issued arrest warrants against about two thousand borrower farmers and auction of their land was also in the process. “This action will not be tolerated at any cost”, she told.
Bibi Raju alleged that the AAP government is now going back on its promises made to the people including farming community and deplored that people mandated on “give AAP a chance” but so far they have met with disappointment. “The agriculture and farming issues are being ignored and government is hesitant to announce compensation for the fall in wheat yield due to extreme hot weather. So Bhagwant Mann’s government should now fulfill all the guarantees promised to the electorates and release the cane arrears immediately”, she asked.
The woman leader also demanded that the state government must give relief to the indebted farmers in the same way as it gives relief to big industrialists in case of default of banks. Farmer leader Bibi Raju demanded that the agricultural land being acquired by the central government for construction of Bharat Mala Yojna, the farmers must be compensated according to the market rate of the area and the road construction work should be stopped by issuing a letter till the problem was resolved.