The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said no Punjab farmer will be compelled to commit suicide once the AAP forms government in the state after coming Assembly polls.
Addressing a meeting of farmers in Mansa during the program ‘Kisanan nal Kejriwal di gal-baat’ (dialogue of farmers with Kejriwal) on Thursday, the AAP leader appealed to Punjab’s farmers and laborers to not take any wrong step like committing suicide by falling into the realm of despair due to pink bollworm infestation, rain and hailstorm.
He assured that if the present Channi government failed to provide adequate compensation as per the cost, the Aam Aadmi Party government would pay the due compensation to the farmers and farm laborers by 30 April 2022.
“After 1 April 2022, the farmers and laborers in Punjab will not be forced to commit suicide due to crop failure. This is my (Kejriwal’s) promise and Kejriwal does what he says. By 30 April 2022, crop loss compensation will be credited to the account of each affected farmer
and laborer,” Kejriwal said.
“When a farmer commits suicide, I feel disheartened. Even after 70 years of independence, the farmers are forced to commit suicide, but other parties and leaders are not affected with it. If these leaders had such compassion, the country’s farmers, farm laborers and all agriculture-dependent businesses would not be facing such crises,” he added.
Kejriwal said when the AAP government was formed in Delhi, the crops of the farmers were also damaged. The AAP government had compensated the farmers more than their cost of expense of Rs 18,000, to Rs 20,000 per acre.
“In Punjab, the Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had taken photographs with the farmers in the fields, which were also put on the buses but the farmers have not received any compensation for the crops damaged by the pink bollworm or rain,” he said.
Taking a dig at Channi for presenting himself as an aam aadmi (common man), Kejriwal said ‘copying is easy’ but it is very ‘difficult to implement’. “Therefore, the people of Punjab will not come in misleading manoeuvres of the imitators; because the ‘original’ Kejriwal
is standing in front of them,”.