Congress Seeks Crop Damage Survey, Compensation For Bulandshahr Farmers After Unseasonal Rain

Demand for compensation to farmers has intensified in the Anupshahr Assembly constituency of Bulandshahr district after unseasonal torrential rain caused heavy damage to paddy and other crops. Congress leaders submitted a memorandum to Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Dr. Manish Kumar on Friday, seeking an immediate survey of the damaged crops and suitable compensation for the affected farmers.

The memorandum was submitted under the leadership of Congress vice-president and coordinator Gyanendra Singh Raghav. Through the memorandum, the party strongly demanded that the administration conduct a survey without delay and ensure that farmers whose crops have been damaged receive compensation according to their losses.

Congress leaders said the unseasonal rain had wiped out months of hard work by farmers in the area. They said that despite the damage, no survey of the losses had been conducted by the administration so far. As a result, the difficulties of farmers already facing financial hardship have increased further, they said.

Congress vice-president Gyanendra Singh Raghav criticised the government over the situation. He said that on one hand, the government claims that it is working to double farmers’ incomes, while on the other hand, rising prices of pesticides, fertilisers, medicines and diesel have placed an additional burden on farmers.

Raghav said the financial condition of farmers had already weakened because of the rising costs of farming inputs. He added that many farmers were already under the burden of debt and that the crop damage caused by the rain had created a serious crisis for their livelihood.

He also said that the government was talking about providing compensation for damaged crops from 12 October. However, he stressed that an accurate assessment of the actual loss and the delivery of relief to farmers would not be possible until a ground-level survey was carried out.

The Congress leader demanded that teams be sent immediately to the affected villages to conduct the survey. He also sought the release of compensation to farmers without any delay, so that those affected by the crop damage could receive relief.

Along with compensation for the damaged crops, the Congress leaders demanded steps towards waiving agricultural loans taken from government and cooperative banks, as well as loans taken through Kisan Credit Cards.

The Congress leaders warned the administration that the party would be forced to launch a strong street protest in support of farmers, stretching from the Anupshahr Assembly constituency to the district headquarters, if the farmers’ problems were not resolved soon.

They said concrete action would be necessary on the demands raised in the memorandum. The warning came as the Congress sought immediate administrative intervention for the affected farmers and a survey of the crop damage in the area.

Former president and Youth Congress leader Bablu Qureshi, city president Engineer Ravi Lodhi, vice-president and in-charge Salam Khan, senior Congress leader Mohan Shareen, Kaushal Sharma, Rajendra Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Rakesh Sharma and area panchayat member Deepak Kushwaha were among those present. A large number of Congress workers and farmers also attended the memorandum submission.