Hoshiarpur- A large delegation led by the deputation of the organizations included in the SKM of district Hoshiarpur, Jagtar Singh Bhinder Kirti Kisan Union, Davinder Singh Kakkon Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, Rajinder Singh Azad BKU Ekta Da Ugrahan, Ranjit Singh Bajwa Doaba Kisan Committee, Sirnagar Singh BKU Qadian, Gurjpal Singh BKU Rajewal, Inderpal Singh Kul Hind Kisan Sabha, Charanjit Singh Bhinder Punjab Kisan Union, met the Deputy Commissioner Hoshiarpur Mrs. Ashika Jain regarding the payment of due compensation to the flood victims.
The delegation submitted memorandums to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Shri Bhagwant Mann, Chief Minister of Punjab. The delegation demanded that the cause of the flood be investigated under the leadership of a sitting judge of the Supreme Court and strict administrative action be taken against the officials found guilty and that the dams and canals be desilted while there is still time.
The embankments of the river banks should be strengthened, and water storage should be kept in the dams as per the reports of the Meteorological Department as per the requirement. They demanded that the central government should consider the floods in Punjab as a national disaster and make arrangements for its future prevention for the damage and rehabilitation, and a special financial package of Rs. 25 thousand crore should be given for the reconstruction of the infrastructure, illegal mining near the banks of the rivers should be stopped while there is still time, and rivers and drains should be cleaned.
Necessary steps should be taken to fill the floodplains in the places where the rivers are flooded, the uncultivated lands of the settlers adjacent to the rivers whose gardawars were broken in the past, such as more than 17000 acres in Ferozepur district and 10386 acres in Amritsar district, including all the workers, should be given full compensation for the damage caused due to floods, the flood-affected farmers should be given permanent permission to dig sand/silt from their fields without any condition,
The SKM delegation demanded that the farmers be given compensation of Rs. 70000/- per acre for the crops destroyed due to floods and the laborers should be given 10% of it, therefore the condition of five acres should be removed, the defective compensation/relief policy of disaster management should be changed and a compensation policy should be made on the basis of compensation for the damage. The compensation process policy should be closed.
The families of those killed during the floods should be given a compensation of Rs 25 lakh and a government job should be given to one member of the family, Rs 10 lakh for the collapsed houses, Rs 1 lakh for cattle like cows and buffaloes, Rs 20,000/- per animal for sheep, goats and small animals, Rs 1 lakh per family should be given as a lump sum assistance to the laboring families, Rs 1 lakh per acre should be given for the damaged sugarcane crop.
The lands which have been filled with silt and sand, have been eroded on a large scale and deep pits have formed, farmers should be given financial assistance to make them cultivable, seeds and fertilizers should be provided for sowing crops, appropriate arrangements should be made for the early prevention of diseases that may occur in the flood-affected areas, the paddy crop has been destroyed due to turmeric disease and Madhra/Bona disease.
To compensate for this loss, a compensation of Rs. 30,000/- per acre should be given, farmers should be given Rs. 200 per quintal or Rs. 7,000 per acre to prevent stubble fires, the forcible application of unnecessary fertilizers and medicines along with DAP and Zuria fertilizers should be stopped, the moisture content of paddy should be increased from 17 to 22, the Punjab government should formulate its own crop insurance scheme, in which one acre should be considered as a unit, disconnected motors in acquired lands on the National Highway should be reconnected as soon as possible.
At this time, Amrik Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Ranjit Singh Bajwa, Jagdeep Singh, Master Shingara Singh, Master Mahinder Pal, Jagtar Singh Kalra, Sarabjit Singh Randhawa, Dr. Sukhdev Singh Dhillon, Malkit Singh Salempuri, Manjit Singh Bajwa, Gurcharan Singh, Sher Jang Bahadur, Onkar Nath, Sham Singh, Chanan Ram, Shiv Kumar Bali, Mahinder Singh, Paramjit Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Satnam Singh, Inderpal Singh, and other farmer companions were present.