Punjab CM says agitation ‘unwarranted’, urges farmers to join govt in checking depleting groundwater
India Today
In a statement, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said that staggered program for sowing of paddy won’t harm the interests of the farmers, but it can act as a catalyst to save the water table in the state.
Asserting that farmers’ agitation was unwarranted and undesirable, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday asked the farmers' union to stop mere sloganeering and join hands with the state government to check the depleting groundwater in the state.
In a statement, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said that staggered program for sowing of paddy won’t harm the interests of the farmers, but it can act as a catalyst to save the water table in state. Bhagwant Mann said that he was acting as per the path shown by the great gurus and no one can stop him from that.
Punjab farmers sat on a protest near the Chandigarh-Mohali border on Tuesday after being stopped from heading to the state capital to press the government for a bonus on wheat crop and allow paddy sowing from June 10. The government has asked farmers not to go for paddy transplantation till June 18.
The CM said his doors are open for talks with farmers but hollow slogans cannot break his resolve to check further depletion of groundwater.
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Pointing out that the staggered programme of paddy sowing will not harm interests of farmers, CM Bhagwant Mann said, "I am the son of a farmer. I know how it can happen. What is the difference between June 18 and 10."
Bhagwant Mann said that he doesn’t owe any patent for water and air, but even he owes a larger responsibility towards saving these natural precious resources. He said that instead of staging protest, the farmers should come forward and support the state government for this noble cause aimed at betterment of Punjab and Punjabis. Bhagwant Mann said that he had already announced purchasing the Basmati and Moongi crop on MSP, adding that the state government was also incentivising the farmers adopting direct sowing.
