Punjab: Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Partap Singh Bajwa on Sunday accused the AAP government in Punjab and the Centre of “abandoning” the state’s farmers in their worst phase and claimed that there has been a total collapse of governance in the state. “Punjab farmers have lost the livelihood of the entire season, yet they are being offered only Rs 6,750 per acre for partial loss, which is less than 10 per cent of the actual earnings. An acre of paddy yields more than Rs 70,000, but this so-called compensation is nothing more than a sham,” he said.
“In just one week, 1,018 villages in 14 districts have been destroyed and more than 3 lakh acres of land has been ruined. For our farmers, this devastation is not just a matter of numbers but a collapse of livelihoods, homes and security,” he said. Bajwa explained why Punjab has been left out of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) since 2017. “We opposed it because the scheme assessed losses at the village level instead of individual farms, imposed additional premiums, and paid compensation after long delays,” he said.
