PUNJAB CM RULES OUT METERS ON AGRICULTURAL TUBEWELLS, DECLARES THAT POWER SUBSIDY FOR FARMERS WILL CONTINUE

FLAYS SAD-BJP FOR INDULGING IN FALSE PROPAGANDA WITH EYE ON GURDASPUR BYPOLL

Flaying the Akalis for spreading false propaganda on the issue, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has categorically ruled out the installation of meters on agricultural tubewells.

The subsidy on power in the farming sector would continue, as already promised by the government, the Chief Minister said in a statement issued here on Monday. There was no question of withdrawing the subsidy or putting meters for tubewells in the farms, he added.

The Chief Minister had announced continuation of power subsidy for the agriculture sector in the state Vidhan Sabha in June this year.

Captain Amarinder has lashed out at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for misleading the people with baseless statements with an eye on the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha by-election.

Reacting to inputs that rumours were being deliberately spread by SAD and BJP leaders, particularly in the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency region, about installation of tubewell meters, the Chief Minister said these parties were notorious for indulging in false advocacy to further their vested political interests. The SAD and BJP had indulged in large-scale rumour mongering even during the Assembly elections but had failed to fool the people of Punjab, he pointed out.

Captain Amarinder said his government was committed to the welfare of the farming community and had already initiated several measures, including waiver of loans, to protect the interests of the farmers. After trying to mislead the farmers on the issue of loan waiver, which they themselves had failed to announce during their decade-long rule in Punjab, the SAD-BJP combine was trying to spread misapprehensions in the minds of the farmers on other issues, such as power subsidy, he added.

Far from doing away with such subsidy, his government was, in fact, striving to rescue the beleaguered farmers in the state for the abyss of debt and destruction into which the erstwhile Badal-led government had plunged them, Captain Amarinder said. Not only would his government ensure that the farmers are brought out of the current crisis but also put them back on the path of progress, he promised.