Paddy dwarfing virus: Farmer unions push for special girdawari
Karnal, Aug. 29 -- A day after Haryana agriculture minister Shyam Singh Rana said that the state government was alert regarding southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus' (SRBSDV) and the crop damage due to the virus has been recorded at about 5 to 10%, various farmer unions have rejected the claim and demanded a special girdawari with compensation to those affected.
While replying to a calling attention motion brought by some members in the House during the ongoing assembly session, Rana informed that out of about 40 lakh acres of sown paddy crop, approximately 92,000 acres have been found affected by this virus.
Reacting to the development, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) (Tikait) state president Rattan Mann said that in fact, the loss is double for the farmers.
"First they had to destroy the affected paddy crop that incurred costs and then re-transplanted the crop, which is also a costly affair. If the government is accepting that there has been damage, it should get it checked through a physical girdwari. Our union demands that compensation at Rs.80,000 per acre should be provided to the affected farmers," he added.
Similarly, spokespersons Rakesh Bains (BKU Charuni) and Bahadur Mehla (BKU Sir Chotu Ram) also rejected the minister's statement, while demanding a girdwari. "This is merely a political statement," Bains said.
Meanwhile, Mehla claimed that there has been a huge re-transplantation of the crop. "I personally know several farmers in the region who have done re-transplantation on at least 5-7 acre each. If the minister is accepting loss on 92,000 acres, at least they should be compensated, for which farmers have been demanding for so long."
He further said that Haryana Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Morcha, a forum of like-minded farmer unions of the state, will protest on September 1 at CM house in Kurukshetra and take up several issues including this....
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