Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Aman Arora has written to Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, condemning the Punjab government for “not providing timely funds” to farmers and agricultural societies to buy subsidized agricultural machinery.
“Punjab farmers and agricultural groups filed more than 61,000 applications to the Agriculture Department for the acquisition of different machinery for seeding crops and disposing of crop leftovers, but these applications have languished in the Agriculture Department’s offices for a long time.” However, due to a shortage of technology, Punjabi farmers are obliged to burn rice stubble,” added Arora.
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He said that farmers in the state had submitted approximately 61,000 applications for the subsidy to purchase 1,64,800 machines. Only about 9,300 were accepted, and the Punjab government authorized only 25,500 units. According to the AAP leader, the agricultural department did not disburse the funds requested by the farmers, nor did it provide all of the bought machinery, forcing them to burn stubble.
According to Arora, the Punjab government has granted just Rs 106 crore in subsidies to farmers, panchayats, CHCs, and cooperative societies out of a total subsidy of Rs 346 crore sanctioned by the Union Government for the fiscal year 2021-22.
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He said that the money granted by the Centre for the agriculture sector had gone back to the Centre due to the Punjab government’s poor performance in recent years. “For example, the federal subsidy money of Rs 45 crore was returned even during the previous financial year,” he added, adding that such behavior must be stopped.
