CHANDIGARH, August 3: While emphasising the need for providing relief to the draught hit farmers in Punjab, the Congress MPs from the state, however, have urged the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh not to trust the Akali-BJP government with the aid as it will never reach the farmers.
Speaking on behalf of the party MPs from Punjab, Ludhiana MP and the National Spokesperson of the Congress Manish Tewari pointed out that the past experience has shown that whenever the centre provided aid to the Akali-BJP government in the state for relief to the draught hit farmers, the state government did not pay any money to the affected farmers but diverted it for other things.
Tewari was referring to the Rs 2380 crores aid sought by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from the centre.
Citing an example, he said, in 2009 the government of India provided Rs 800 crores as aid to the Punjab government for disbursing the same to the affected farmers. Instead of giving it to the farmers, the state government claimed that it was not for them but for the electricity subsidy.
Tewari said, the farmers had to agitate and stage dharnas to get the relief money. Even after that what government paid to the farmers was not even the peanuts as some farmers got cheques worth Rs 50 and Rs 100 as compensation.
The Congress spokesperson said, all the Congress MPs will support and facilitate the grant of relief for the farmers. But at the same time they will like that the government of India take guarantee from the Punjab government to ensure that the money taken in the name of the farmers really and ultimately reaches to them only and is not squandered on other unproductive things in an unplanned manner like the Sangat Darshans, a favourite pastime of the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
