Compensate border area farmers: Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to officials

KHALRA (Tarn Taran): Ahead of the 2017 assembly elections, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday directed all deputy commissioners of border districts of the state to disburse compensation to farmers having land beyond border fence within a week.
"Hundreds of farmers having a total of around 21,000 acres beyond the fence will avail the benefit," he said while addressing a gathering to inaugurate the distribution of compensation to farmers in Khalra village in Tarn Taran district.
Stating that he was well aware of the peculiar situation of border area farmers, the CM said the SAD-BJP alliance had in its 1997-2002 regime initiated the scheme to give of Rs 2,500 per acre to the farmers that had now been enhanced to Rs 10,000 per acre.
Saying that the Saltuj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal would never become a reality, Badal asked the people of Punjab to make sacrifice to protect the river waters of the state. "Punjab doesn't have a single drop of spare water for anybody," he said.
Attacking the Congress, the Akali stalwart alleged the resignation of party's state unit president Captain Amarinder Singh and 42 other MLAs was a mere political stunt.
The CM also didn't forget to rake up the sensitive issue of 1984 on the occasion. "Punjabis can never forgive the Congress for its sins against Punjab. Any true Punjabi will never forget Operation Bluestar and the killing of thousands of innocents in the anti-Sikh carnage in 1984," he said.
Badal also called upon the people of the state to hand over the control of their destiny in right hands by forming the SAD-BJP government for third consecutive term. "Every vote for alliance in coming poll will be a vote for stability, development, peace and right governance in the state," he said. Meanwhile, reacting to the distribution of compensation cheques ahead of the assembly polls, general secretary of Border Area Sangharsh Committee Rattan Singh Randhawa said, "It's only a political gimmick that the Akalis had been doing in past also. They never remember the farmers after the elections are over. Suddenly when the polls are due, they come calling with compensation cheques. I am sure that this stunt will not translate into votes."