Rain damaged only 10-15% crop: Khattar
Haryana CM says farmers will be paid compensation in May
CHANDIGARH/KARNAL: Haryana chief minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said about 10-15% crop appears to have been affected by the recent rains and the extent of damage to the ready-to-harvest crop was not as huge as it was appearing earlier.
Addressing a press conference, the chief minister said out of 17 lakh acre where the crop was reported to have been damaged, girdawari (field inspection) on 15 lakh acre has been completed. He said farmers will be paid compensation in May.
The CM said so far, 41 lakh metric tonne (MT) wheat has arrived in various mandis of the state, out of which 32 lakh MT tonne has been procured. Apart from this, 2.12 lakh MT mustard has also been procured and farmers are being paid on time, Khattar added.
He said damage to wheat crop was between 10-20% and not as high as was earlier anticipated.
Scattered showers hit harvesting
Meanwhile, scattered showers accompanied by high-velocity winds reported in the parts of state on Wednesday affected the harvesting and wheat procurement operations in most of the northern parts of the state.
As per reports, harvesting operations were halted for the day as machines could not harvest wet straws of wheat.
“We had to stop harvesting in the afternoon as the combine harvester could harvest only 10-acre against 30- acre we harvest daily,” said Jai Ram, the owner of combine harvesters from Radaur of Yamunanagar.
Darshan Lal, a farmer from Ladwa of Kurukshetra district, said, “Yes, the rain has affected harvesting operations. Now we have to wait for a day or two to resume harvesting.”
On the other hand, ahrtiyas were also facing difficulties to protect the procured wheat from rain as they had to depute labourers to cover the wheat lying in the open.
“We had to face problems due to showers on Wednesday evening as due to slow lifting our 6,600 bags of procured wheat were in open and we are struggling to protect it from rain as the ahrtiyas are responsible for the safety of grains until it reaches the government godowns,” said a commission agent Sohan Singh of Ladwa grain market.
Out of power, Hooda is feeling rattled: Khattar
In a no-holds-bar attack on Congress, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been feeling rattled because the grand old party is out of power in the state for such a long duration for the first time.
“In the history of Haryana, I am the first CM who has kept the Congress out of power for so long. unki taklif yah hai (That’s their main problem),” Khattar said addressing a press conference here, adding the BJP has completed 3,031 days in power in Haryana.
Responding to a question, Khattar said that against 81,000 government jobs given during the Congress rule (2005- 2014), the present state government has given over 1 lakh government jobs in about eight-and-ahalf-years. He said in the next six months about 60,000 posts will be filled.
“There was a lack of transparency in the recruitments that took place during the Congress government, due to which the court cancelled the recruitments related to about a dozen different departments,” he said, adding that it was due to the transparency and merit ensured by the present government that not a single recruitment has been cancelled.
When told that CLP leader Hooda has asked the government to bring out a white paper on state finances, Khattar asked: “Why should we bring out a white paper? The white paper is brought when we feel there is something wrong... Our budget document is a white paper.”
Hooda slams state govt for delays in procurement
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janta Party government of harassing farmers by delaying foodgrain procurement and its payment.
In a statement, the leader of opposition said about 38 lakh metric tonnes of wheat has arrived in the mandis but only 10 lakh metric tonnes have been lifted so far. “Due to delay in lifting, payment to farmers is also getting delayed. Due to rains and mismanagement, the farmers are suffering huge losses,” he said.
Hooda sought early compensation for the crop damage caused by rains. Responding to repeated statements made by INLD and JJP on alliance with the Congress, the former CM said that Congress alone is capable of defeating the BJP in the state. “It is clear from the mass exodus from the opposition parties,” he said.