Khaira meets cotton growers in Mansa: ‘CM visit an eyewash’

MANSA:A day after CM Capt Amarinder Singh visited whitefly-hit fields in Khyala Kalan and Sahnewali villages, leader of opposition in the assembly and AAP MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira visited the two villages of Mansa on Saturday.

"The CM's visit was just an eyewash as the district administration had hijacked the entire programme and they led the chief minister to fields with healthy and standing crop," said Khaira. The chief minister during his visit had said that less than one percent of the cotton crop sown in the district was infested with whitefly and even that can be controlled by using PAU recommended pesticides and sprays.

The AAP MLA also said that he will stay in Mansa for the next three days to assess the impact and study the preventive measures to tackle whitefly attack on cotton crop.

While demanding a special assembly session to chalk out a plan to tackle the financial struggle of farmers, Khaira also appealed the NRIs to assist such families which are struggling due to low income. "Around 50 lacs Punjabis stay abroad, and if everyone of them donates one dollar, we can very much assist the farming families. Many a times we have seen that suicide hit families don't even have enough resources to conduct the last rites," said Khaira.

The AAP MLA said that the state government must catch the big fish involved in the sale of spurious pesticides and not harass small businessmen.

He also criticised the insensitive behaviour of the DC and the agriculture officer who had allegedly ignored the pleas of farmers. “The bureaucracy only arrived in the fields when the CM was scheduled to visit the affected fields,” he said.