FARMERS’ AGITATION UNWARRANTED, SAYS MANN

CHANDIGARH : Asserting that farmers agitation was “unwarranted and undesirable”, chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday asked the farm unions to stop sloganeering and join hands with his state government for checking the depleting water table in Punjab.

Mann said that staggered programme for sowing of paddy would not harm the interests of the farmers but it can act as a catalyst to save the water table in state. ”My doors are open for talks with the farmers but hollow slogans cannot break my resolve to check the depletion of water table,” he said here on his return from Delhi where he met AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

In a statement, the CM also said that instead of staging protest, the farmers should come forward and support the state government for this noble cause aimed at betterment of Punjab and Punjabis. Mann said he had already announced purchasing basmati and moong crops on MSP and incentive for the farmers adopting direct sowing.

He asked the farmers to support him for a year, adding that if the farmers suffer any loss during this period, the state government would fully compensate them.