After 3 decades, Himachal compensates family of three who died in apple farmer agitation

After 33 years of an agitation by apple growers against the then BJP government that changed the political landscape in Himachal Pradesh, the current Congress government led by Sukhvinder Sukhu announced a financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh each to the next of kin of three apple growers who then died.

In 1990, the BJP government was in power in the hill state, which has been ruled by the both national parties on every alternate term.

Chief Minister Shanta Kumar was in the state in 1990.

After the agitation, considered to be one of the fiercest by apple growers, the Congress under the leadership of Virbhadra Singh, now dead, won 60 of the state’s 68 assembly seats.

Kumar lost the two seats he had contested.

Besides announcing enhanced assistance to natural calamity affected families, Chief Minister Sukhu also announced financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of three orchardists — Govind Singh, Heera Singh and Tara Chand — who died in the firing incident during the apple grower’s agitation in 1990, a statement said on Thursday.

The Chief Minister announced Rs 8 lakh on behalf of the government for the maintenance of their memorial. Besides, Rs 7 lakh each has been released for seven panchayats of Kotgarh, state’s prominent apple belt in Shimla district, severely affected due to torrential rains, it said.

The Chief Minister took stock of the situation in Kumarsain subdivision and was detailed about losses, wherein 124 houses were completely damaged and 204 houses were partially affected due to rains.

Within 12 hours after the directions of the Chief Minister, Rs 55 lakh was released to development block of Nankhari and Rs 49 lakh to development block of Narkanda to accelerate the restoration work of roads and bridges, said the statement.

Directions were also issued in all five assembly segments of Chopal, Rohru, Rampur, Theog and Kotkhai to work round-the-clock to restore the damaged roads and bridges, besides providing sufficient funds to the tune of over Rs 110 crore to the Public Works Department (PWD) to expedite restoration of roads.

It was in 1990 after coming to the helm the Virbhadra government introduced the market intervention scheme to fix the minimum price of the apple.

Shimla district alone accounts for 80 per cent of the state’s total apple production.

The apple cultivation in Himachal Pradesh, with more than 90 per cent of the produce going to the domestic market, has brought prosperity to the cultivators over the past half century.

The first apple orchard in the state was planted in Kotgarh in Thanedar panchayat, some 85 km from Shimla, on November 6, 1916, and that had helped Kotgarh to progress economically, socially and also marked its presence on the global map.

State’s apple boom is credited to Samuel Evans Stokes (later named Satyanand Stokes), an American missionary who first introduced the high-quality apples in the mid-altitude hills.

Since then the hill state has been synonymous with apples that alone constitute 89 per cent of the state’s fruit economy of Rs 5,000 crore.