On the directions of Punjab Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the Punjab Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister Randeep Singh Nabha met the families of the aggrieved at Lucknow on Friday and handed over cheques worth 50 Lakhs.
This compensation was specifically given to families of Four farmers and one journalist that were killed in the tragic incident at Lakhimpur Kheri District in Uttar Pradesh on October 3.
Minister Nabha also welcomed the supreme courts Suo Motu action on conducting an investigation by a single-member Commission of Enquiry, headed by retired High Court Judge Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, on the violence that occurred during Minister Ajay Mishra’s visit.
He also told the press that the Punjab Government has always supported the farmers’ agitation against black farm laws and ever stood by the farming community.
Further elaborating about efforts made by his govt to compensate the farmers Randeep Nabha said “The Punjab Government has already given a government job to one member of each bereaved family of 157 farmers, who died during the ongoing agitation”.
This step was taken by the minister because the four of the farmers killed in the incident were all Punjabi farmers Lovepreet Singh, Daljeet Singh, Nachattar Singh and Gurvinder Singh who had settled in Uttar Pradesh.
These Punjabi farmers are those that either migrated to Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand post-partition and were given land in the Terai region at that time or ones who later went and adopted the religion. The land in the Terai Region however was unwanted at that time by the locals however due to many of these farmers losing the original papers of their land they are subjected to a lot of pressure for their lands, this has led them to stand up for their rights and participate in a lot of farm agitation movements.
Last year due to land-related concerns, the UP government requested police to remove Punjabi migrants from their houses and farms in portions of the state. The issue was finally discussed with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal).
So although the Punjab minister giving compensation to farmers in the UP seems like a political move however it’s actually nothing but a sign of goodwill to the people of the Sikh community for which he should be applauded.
