A political slugfest has erupted between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Opposition Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat over the quantum of compensation due to be paid to farmers who have suffered crop damage due to recent unseasonal rains.
While the AAP demanded that all affected farmers be paid a compensation of ₹50,000 per hectare without holding any assessment survey, the Congress dismissed this amount as paltry and sought a much higher payout— ₹50,000 per bigha (one hectare is approximately six bighas in Gujarat).
These compensation demands are being made at a time when the state government is still engaged in the crop damage assessment exercise. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has announced his government will soon provide a relief package to farmers whose crops were damaged by unseasonal rains that lashed parts of the state last week.
The Congress party insisted the AAP's demand for ₹50,000 per hectare compensation was far too little and accused the party of having a "secret understanding" with the ruling BJP. The BJP also hit back at the AAP, claiming that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is only good at making grand claims, while their own government in Punjab has failed to compensate all affected farmers there.
In view of the damage to standing crops, AAP convener Kejriwal, during his recent Gujarat visit, demanded that affected farmers be paid ₹50,000 a hectare as compensation, just like what the AAP government did in Punjab for rain-affected cultivators. Talking to reporters on Monday, AAP MLA Gopal Italia said he would walk barefoot from Ahmedabad to the state capital Gandhinagar, a distance of around 30km, to "thank" Chief Minister Patel if he agreed to give ₹50,000 per hectare to every farmer. "This [BJP] government is doing drama in the name of survey [to determine extent of crop loss]. If the BJP government at the Centre can waive ₹16 lakh crore worth of loans of industrialists without any survey, why are they talking about survey when it comes to compensating farmers?" he asked. "Just like Punjab, we demand that all affected farmers of Gujarat be paid a compensation of ₹50,000 per hectare without any survey. If the government does that in the next two days, I will walk barefoot till Gandhinagar to say thank you to CM Patel," the Opposition MLA maintained.
Hitting back, Gujarat BJP leader Hitendra Patel on Tuesday claimed the AAP government in Punjab has not paid compensation to all farmers as promised in the northern state. "AAP leaders are good at making tall claims and challenging others. In Punjab, only 1.5 lakh hectares of land got affected due to excessive rains. A relief package was announced in September and they started paying compensation from October 16th. Till now, they have not completed the payments to each and every farmer," said Hitendra Patel. The state government reported on October 29th that unseasonal rains in late October affected more than 10 lakh hectares of farmland in Gujarat.
Congress politician from Amreli and former Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Paresh Dhanani, slammed AAP MLA Italia for demanding only ₹50,000 per hectare, claiming that each farmer has suffered a loss of ₹50,000 per bigha. "If we put everything together, including the input cost as well as the money we would have received after selling groundnut on MSP, the actual loss was ₹50,000 per bigha. There are nearly six bighas in one hectare. Someone demanded ₹50,000 per hectare, which comes to just ₹8,000 per bigha," Dhanani said in Amreli while addressing farmers on Monday. Dhanani accused the AAP of having a "secret understanding" with the BJP. "Now, that leader [Italia] said he will dance in front of the CM if farmers are paid ₹50,000 per hectare. It appears the AAP is having some secret understanding with them [BJP]. Farmers must be aware of those who want to sell farmers' interests for just ₹8,000. We demand that each farmer be paid a compensation of ₹50,000 per bigha, not per hectare," he emphasised.
Also read: Gujarat to announce relief package for rain hit farmers
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