Farmers said that they want the government to ensure 8-hour power supply from June 10.
To consolidate the votes of the big farmers, especially of the Jat Sikh Community, against the ruling Congress, a recently issued letter by Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s government has become a tool in the hands of the opposition parties.
After circulating this letter among the farmers, the opposition parties are convincing them that if the Congress is voted to power then this order will be implemented after the elections.
The Channi government had on December 10 last year issued an order to all the districts seeking details of landowners with land more than the prescribed ceiling limit under the Punjab Land Reform Act 1972. The order was issued after a meeting of Punjab Chief Minister Channi with the Sanjha Morcha (joint front) of the organisations of rural and farm labourers. The details were sought with immediate effect by the department of revenue, rehabilitation and management. But within hours, the government issued another letter mentioning that no further action should be taken on this matter.
Now several leaders of opposition parties are circulating this letter and message among the big landowners mentioning that if Congress is voted to power, they will snatch their land from them and distribute those among landless farmers.
“Why will the government issue such a letter in the first place and then hold it back? That means that they will do something after the elections. I have 40 acres land, which I have inherited from my family, and now no one can snatch it from me,” said a farmer from Nandgarh village in Sri Mukatsar Sahib, adding that all the big farmers of his area are worried about the letter as it reflects that the government’s intentions are not clear. “How can the government snatch our legal land,” he asked, adding that several leaders are sending this letter to the big farmers on their phones and explaining how the Channi government will snatch their land.
Another big potato grower of Jalandhar’s Malsian area, who owns around 58 acres of land, said that in the political meetings they got to know that the Channi government will implement this order if they win which is not fair. As there may be a law related to land ceiling in the state but a large number of farmers are having more than prescribed land, which they have purchased from their hard earned money, he added.
There is no bar on the big businesses and corporates who are expanding their businesses then why cannot a farmer expand their land, questioned another NRI-cum farmer of Doaba region, who has 125 acres in Bhogpur area.
Another NRI Gursewak Singh, who lives in the UK, said that he had purchased around 50 acres in Phagwara with his hard earned money and now they got the message that the government had asked for details of such farmers having more than the prescribed limit of land.“Was the government sleeping when I was purchasing this land 10 years ago,” he asked.
As per the land ceiling limits, no farmer can keep cultivable land of more than 17.5 acres and 52 acres barren land in the state. But in Punjab around 60,000 to 61,000 farmers have land over the prescribed limit. In some districts of Malwa region, including Faridkot, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Sri Mukatsar Sahib, there are big land holdings with big farmers who mostly belong to Jat-Sikh community.
Several political leaders who own large acres were also against this order. Except small and marginal farmers, who were registered for loan waiver when Captain Amarinder Singh was the CM, the Punjab government does not have any proper record of farmers with the number of acres they own.
FAQs
Covering programs ranging from crop insurance for farmers to healthy food access for low-income families, from beginning farmer training to support for sustainable farming practices, the farm bill sets the stage for our food and farm systems.
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What is the Freedom to farm Act? ›
The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-127), known informally as the Freedom to Farm Act, the FAIR Act, or the 1996 U.S. Farm Bill, was the omnibus 1996 farm bill that, among other provisions, revises and simplifies direct payment programs for crops and eliminates milk price supports ...
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The current farm law, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Act), was signed on December 20, 2018. It was extended through FY2024.
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These payments help mitigate fluctuations in either revenue or prices for certain crops. Payments for crops that may trigger for the 2023 crop year will be issued in the fall of 2024.
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Today the agency derives its authority from the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended. Our headquarters are located in McLean, Virginia.
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All 50 states have some form of Right to Farm law. Rehoboth, Massachusetts, is a Right to Farm community. Many of these laws were passed after 1980 because of the reduction of available farmland, adversity from private and public nuisance actions, which hinder the prospect of farming.
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The 1996 Act is a milestone in the evolution of U.S. agricultural policy because it fundamentally redesigns income support programs and discontinues supply management programs for producers of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, rice, and upland cotton.
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A handful of issues usually dominate Farm Bill spending, including nutrition, crop insurance, conservation and commodities (see chart below).
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The 2018 Farm Bill provides support, certainty, and stability to our nation's farmers, ranchers, and land stewards by enhancing farm support programs, improving crop insurance, maintaining disaster programs, and promoting and supporting voluntary conservation.
Farmers said that they want the government to ensure 8-hour power supply from June 10.
