The district administration committee formed to look into the compensation demand of the agitating farmers in Kheri Jalab tehsil has suggested that the cotton crop in the region has suffered damage while moong and guar produce too was hit in terms of quality.

Since March 16, farmers of 17 villages are staging a dharna and have locked up the tehsil office after they were denied compensation on the basis of a special girdawari. In Hisar, the farmers later met Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, who directed the administration to look into their demands.

DC Priyanka Soni has set up a committee comprising the SDMs of the Narnaund and Hisar blocks, besides the district revenue officer and the deputy director of the Agriculture Department. The committee submitted the report to the DC, who had established the fact that the kharif crops-2021 had suffered damage because of waterlogging due to untimely rains and pink bollworm attack.

Sources revealed that the report stated that there was no mechanism to assess the losses to these farmers. “The cotton crop has suffered damage of quality and quantity due to inundation and pink bollworm attack. While moong and guar have suffered qualitative loss due to the discolouring of the grain,” the report has suggested.

It further revealed the crop loss could not be gauged in the special girdawari, which was ordered after the untimely rains. “The pink bollworm attack had occurred during and after the special girdawari carried out by the officials of the Revenue Department. It could be possible that a major loss had occurred due to the pink bollworm attack after the visit of the officials for the special girdawari,” the report added.

Kuldeep Kharad, a leader who was among the delegation of farmers that met the DC, said there was no solid assurance from the administration about the compensation to these farmers. “Our dharna will continue until the affected farmers get due compensation for the crop damage. The neglect of these villages shows the discriminatory attitude of the government in allocating compensation to the farmers on the basis of the special girdawari,” he alleged.

The farmer leader further said the district administration had tried to pin blame on the revenue officials for the laxity in assessment of the crop loss and had thus transferred about 100 patwaris in the district.

Source - https://www.tribuneindia.com