KHUDIAN IMPRESSES UPON UNION AGRICULTURE MINISTER TO RESUME TALK WITH AGITATING FARMER UNIONS

• Punjab Agriculture Minister urges Union Govt to come forward to save the life of fasting Jagjeet Singh Dallewal

• Also demands Rs. 2500 per acre for farmers to manage paddy straw scientifically; 15K per acre as gap funding to wean away state farmers from paddy

• Allow cultivation of pink bollworm & whitefly resistant BG 3 hybrid cotton seeds, Gurmeet Singh Khudian urges to Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Chandigarh, January 4: Punjab Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Saturday urged Sh. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Agriculture Minister, to break the impasse and revive the dialogue between the Union Government and the agitating farmer unions at the earliest.

Sh. Chouhan was holding the discussions on reforms in Agriculture sector with Agriculture and Horticulture Ministers of the states & UTs through video conference.

Expressing a deep sense of urgency and concern, S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian appealed the Union Cabinet Minister that S. Jagjeet Singh Dallewal's fast-unto-death has taken a critical turn. For 40 days, the latter has been sacrificing his health and well-being, and it is imperative that the Centre should take immediate action to address the grievances and save his life.

The Punjab Agriculture Minister reiterated that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government supports the farmers’ legitimate demands and enthusiastic for working together with the Union Government to achieve a goal of prosperous agriculture.

Raising another issue of great concern, he sought Rs.15,000 per acre for the farmers as gap funding for providing returns over the variable cost of alternative crops to wean away them from the water-guzzling paddy crop. S. Khudian emphasised that since, the fast depleting underground water and climate change in the region are major cause of concerns and there is an emergent need to shift maximum area from paddy to another alternative crops viz. maize, cotton, kharif pulses and oilseed crops etc under crop diversification scheme so that farmers can get profit equal to paddy.

S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian also suggested that the Centre Government should come forward to hold the arm of the state farmers by offering financial assistance of Rs. 2500 per acre (Rs. 2000/acre by GOI & Rs. 500/acre by GoP) to the farmers for managing paddy straw scientifically as incorporation of paddy straw into soil entails an additional expenditure of about Rs. 3000-4000 per acre. Although, the CRM machines have been provided to the farmers at subsidised rates, the additional cost associated with use of these machines is averting farmers to adopt such technologies. In addition to the subsidy on Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines for managing paddy straw, permission should also be granted to the state government to utilise the subsidy amount for various purposes such as CBG plant, Biofuel plant, palletisation units etc., he proposed.

S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian also sought go ahead for the cultivation of BG 3 hybrid seeds, which are pink bollworm and whitefly resistant, in the state as over a few years, pest attacks have made havoc amongst the farmers. Apart from this, subsidy should be given under centrally sponsored schemes on improved cotton hybrid seeds to revive cotton production in the state.

The high-level meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Mr. Anurag. Verma, Director Agriculture Mr. Jaswant Singh and other senior officials of the department.

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Vigilance Bureau arrests Regional Transport Officer’s gunman for collecting lakhs in bribes from transporters

ATO Bathinda, his gunman summoned for joining investigation

Chandigarh, January 4, 2025 – The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) during its ongoing campaign against corruption, has arrested Constable Sukhpreet Singh, a gunman attached to the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Bathinda for collecting monthly bribes amounting to Rs 20-25 lakhs from transporters with the help of their accomplices. The Mohali court has sent him on four days police remand to the VB for further questioning.

Disclosing this an official spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau said this arrest was made based on an online complaint submitted by Dharam Singh, a transporter from village Lehra Dhurkot, near Rampura in Bathinda district, on the Chief Minister’s Anti-Corruption Action Line.

The spokesperson stated that the complainant had alleged that his trucks and tippers were being challaned by the Assistant Transport Officer (ATO) and Constable Sukhpreet Singh and Jaggi Singh, a private individual from Maur in Bathinda, were demanding Rs 1,800 per truck as monthly “protection money” on behalf of Ankit Kumar, Assistant Transport Officer (ATO) Bathinda, and others, to ensure that their commercial trucks and tippers were not penalized. The said ATO had challaned his stationary vehicles and under pressure he already had paid Rs 15000 through Google pay on the mobile phone number provided by Guranjit Singh, gunman of said ATO. The complainant had recorded conversations with the accused, which were submitted to the VB as an evidence.

During the enquiry of this complaint, the allegations were verified as the accused were found to be soliciting bribes in exchange for allowing the complainant’s transport vehicles to operate without interference. Based on the complainant’s statement and the audio evidence, an FIR has been registered against Constable Sukhpreet Singh and Jaggi Singh at the VB Police Station, Flying Squad-1, Punjab, in Mohali.

Upon confrontation by the VB Flying Squad team, Constable Sukhpreet Singh admitted to demanding and accepting bribes from transporters. He further revealed that approximately Rs 20-25 lakhs were being collected monthly from transporters, facilitated by private individuals and accomplices.

During interrogation, Constable Sukhpreet Singh disclosed that private individuals, including Jaggi Singh and some smaller transporters, were being used to collect the bribes. He also revealed that Constable Guranjit Singh, another gunman attached to ATO Ankit Kumar, was collecting Rs 8-10 lakhs monthly from transporters, while he himself was collecting Rs 7-8 lakhs from the remaining transporters.

The spokesperson added that the role of ATO Bathinda, his gunman Guranjit Singh and other individuals was now under investigation and have been summoned to join the probe so that they could be confronted with the evidence, including the confessions made by Sukhpreet Singh. The spokesperson further hinted that additional revelations are expected as the investigation progresses.