Badal requests Rajnath to allow border farmers easier access

Former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today sought Union minister Rajnath Singh's intervention for allowing farmers in Punjab more hours to tend to their fields beyond the wire fence along the international border with Pakistan.
He said that farmers were facing hardships in harvesting wheat because of the restrictions on movement near the fields situated between the international border and the fence which has been constructed in Indian territory.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron requested the home minister to extend the working hours during harvesting as well as crop planting seasons.
He urged that the Border Security Force (BSF) be asked to make the checking procedure more efficient so that the farmers do not have to wait for long hours.

He also requested the Centre to ask the BSF to construct pontoon bridges during the harvesting season so that farmers are able to transport combine Harvestors and tractor-trolleys across the Sutlej river to reach their fields.
He asked the new Congress government to compensate the farmers liberally for the hardships faced by them in tending their fields across the barbed fencing.