Panchkula, April 10 Former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala alleged on Friday that farmers in the state are facing hardship due to the failure of the BJP government to ensure proper crop procurement arrangements and timely compensation for losses caused by unseasonal rain.
Addressing a press conference in Panchkula, Chautala said the government had neither made adequate arrangements for procurement in mandis nor taken effective steps to provide relief to farmers affected by crop damage.
Citing official data shared by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, he said that out of 17.37 lakh metric tonnes of wheat arrivals in mandis, only 3.92 lakh metric tonnes had been procured so far, while payments worth merely Rs 13 crore had been made to farmers.
Chautala claimed that the total payable amount for the procured wheat stands at around Rs 1,030 crore, indicating that less than one per cent of payments have been cleared.
He alleged that even basic arrangements such as biometric systems and availability of gunny bags were lacking in mandis.
Further, criticising the government for limiting compensation orders to only four districts, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader alleged discrimination against farmers and said unseasonal rain and hailstorms had caused significant damage to wheat and mustard crops across several districts, including Sirsa, Fatehabad, Bhiwani, Hisar, Yamunanagar, Panchkula and Ambala.
He also expressed concern that the state government had not yet approached the Centre for compensation under crop loss norms.
On alleged irregularities involving diversion of government funds through private banks, Chautala said such large-scale scams could not occur without political patronage.
He demanded a detailed account of the funds and called for a probe by central agencies, including the CBI, instead of limiting the investigation to the state vigilance bureau.
Chautala also questioned the chief minister's priorities, alleging that despite the prevailing situation in Haryana, Saini was spending time in Punjab and using private helicopters at the cost of public funds, while government helicopters remained non-functional.
On the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, he accused the BJP of not taking a clear stand and urged the chief minister to clarify the government's position.
Responding to a question on political developments, Chautala said his party, the JJP, continues to strengthen its organisation despite attempts by rivals to weaken it.