Chandigarh, March 26 (IANS) The Punjab government has sought a comprehensive relief package, as special central assistance, of Rs.717 crore to compensate the state's farmers for losses caused by damage to their standing rabi crops due to recent untimely rains and hailstorms.
In the letter to the central agriculture secretary, Punjab's Commissioner (Agriculture) Balwinder Singh Sidhu has urged for grant of this compensation, a state government spokesman said here on Thursday.
"This would not only encourage the farmers in this hour of crisis but would lead them to work harder for ensuring food security of the nation," Sidhu said in his letter.
The state government has pointed out that rain and hailstorms affected standing field crops in over 2.60 lakh hectares, fodder crops in nearly 24,000 hectares, and horticulture crops in over 10,000 hectares in the months of February-March.
"In order to compensate the farmers for the losses suffered, a compensation at the rate of Rs.3,600 per acre was being provided by the state government due to high input cost incurred by the farmers and excessive damage to rabi crops. The compensation needs to be enhanced to Rs.10,000 per acre," the letter stated.
It contended that compensation under existing norms was too less and farmers would not be able to even sow the next crop, leave alone recover the cost of the standing crop damaged by the hailstorms, heavy rains and high velocity winds.
"It was strongly felt that the farmers needed to be adequately compensated in this hour of crisis," the letter read.
Corona virus infection double killed, may damage mental health, research claims
New Delhi: Coronavirus infection is increasing worldwide. Many people are losing their lives with this virus, so there are many who are recovering and coming back home. A research has been done on
GDP: GDP size may increase by 22 lakh crores, fiscal deficit will also increase by 3.3 lakh crores
Due to an increase in revenue collection and expenditure, the size of GDP can increase by Rs 22 lakh crore to 275-280 lakh crore in the current financial year. Earlier the government's estimate was Rs
Pankaj Udhas Passed Away: Famous ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas is no more, breathed his last at the age of 72.
Famous ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas has passed away. He was ill for a long time. He was 72 years old. He was born on 17 May 1951 in Jetpur, Gujarat. Pankaj Udhas's daughter Nayaab Udhas has confirmed
Karnataka: CM Yediyurappa gets interim relief from the court, case of 24 acres of government land
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has received relief from the Supreme Court in a corruption case over 24 acres of government land. The Supreme Court on Monday has stayed the criminal trial
Putin will occupy four areas of Ukraine tomorrow, said - attacking them is like a challenge to Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin will formally take control of four regions of Ukraine on 30 September. They will also sign the agreement. It is being told that tomorrow only Russian administrators
Russia-Ukraine War: Putin's ally Kadyrov confesses, 23 Russian soldiers killed in Ukrainian army attack
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Thursday that 23 of his soldiers were killed and 58 others wounded in a Ukrainian artillery attack this week.
Parliament Special Session 2023: A big announcement will be made on the very first day! The PM will address the special session of Parliament today
Parliament Special Session 2023 The special session of Parliament is going to start today. The government can present many bills in this five-day session called by the central government. Meanwhile,
Israel-Hamas War: 7044 people died in the bloody war, and 7600 rockets were fired on Gaza; Netanyahu told the complete plan of ground attack
On the 19th day of the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli Air Force carried out a massive bombardment on the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of people have died in this airstrike. Since the warning to vacate Gaza,
PM visits Gujarat: Modi lays foundation stone for 3 projects in Kutch, says - 24 hours ready for the benefit of farmers
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to visit Gujarat on Tuesday. Here in Kutch, he also laid the foundation stone for the desalination plant, the country's largest solar project, and an automatic milk
PSL 2024: Imad Wasim was seen smoking a cigarette in the dressing room during the final of Pakistan League, and also became the player of the match.
Islamabad United won the title by defeating Multan Sultans in the final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2024 played on Monday. Batting first, the Multan team led by Mohammad Rizwan scored 159 runs