Capt Amarinder to lead gherao of CM residence on Aug 21

Senior Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh will lead a gherao of the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's residence on August 21 to press for the long pending payment to the sugarcane growers and the delay in compensation to the farmers whose crops were damaged during the unseasonal rains and floods in the state.
The dharna will be attended by the sitting and former MPs, MLAs, PCC and DCC presidents and other party leaders.
Disclosing this here today, Capt Amarinder said in a statement that the sugarcane farmers have not been paid since December last year.
He said that ideally the farmer should be getting the payment for their produce within 15 days, but now eight months have passed and there has not been any payment made to them so far.

Similarly, he added, the government is yet to pay compensation to the farmers whose wheat crops were damaged during the unseasonal reasons in the last season.
Capt Amarinder has personally appealed to all the sitting and former MPs, MLAs and PCC and district presidents and senior leaders of the party to ensure their presence at the gherao since the issue concerned thousands of farmers across the state.
Blaming Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for the unacceptable delay, he said, the Punjab government should take a cue from other states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand which have come forward to compensate the farmers.

"If the other states can do it why can't Punjab?" he asked.