Lakhowal seeks bc status for Punjab farmers

Lily

B.R
Staff member

Anandpur Sahib September 27:

The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) has demanded need-based reservation for Punjab farmers saying there was need to declare them backward class.

“Farmers and their families should be given reservation in terms of education and job opportunities. Crumbling agriculture of Punjab has rendered farmers helpless. We don’t want caste-based reservation, rather it should be need-based,” said president Ajmer Singh Lakhowal. He was here to preside over a state-level recruitment drive. He said the economic packages and loan waivers had failed to resuscitate farmers’ lives.

“At least reservation will ensure that our children get decent education and jobs to be independent,” he said. He said water distribution in Punjab should be done on the basis of international riparian act. “The right over rivers should be given to the states from where these originate and the area they traverse. Other states should not be allowed to use our water. The government should revoke Sections 78, 79 and 80 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act,” he said.

He advocated that the government should implement recommendations of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation to pull out Punjab farmers from the agriculture mess they were in at present. Pertaining to bills for tubewell power connections, he claimed he had discussed the issue with the Chief Minister. “The government will soon refund the bill amount to the farmers who had already made the payment, while the others need not pay,” he said.

He demanded that the MSP of cotton in the state should be at par with that awarded in other states. “Cotton farmers face problems like fake seeds and substandard pesticides, the government should deal with these issues effectively,” he added.

 
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