Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 6: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President and Member of Parliament from Srinagar, Dr Farooq Abdullah today expressed anguish over the losses to property and standing crops of people due to the gusty winds that unleashed havoc on Sunday evening in different parts of Kashmir division, impressing upon the administration to reach out to the affected without delay.
“Farmers start their agricultural activity with their eyes set on the annual produce, hoping that the prospective bumper crop will help them refurbish their resources, help them provide for their families and repay their loans. The slack attitude of the administration in coming to the rescue of farmers, and unavailability of proper insurance cover compounds the miseries of farmers,” he said in a statement.
Lamenting the slipshod approach of the administration in failing to rise to the expectations of people during such catastrophes, he said that previously the administration failed to provide recompense to affected families which had incurred heavy losses due to inclement weather conditions during preceding months. “The response of the Government towards the predicaments of farmers has been disappointing; the attitude of the Government has only added to woes of distressed farmers, horticulturalists and people associated with other allied activities of farming,” he said.
Maintaining that the distress the farmers of J&K are going through necessitate for both short term and long term intervention, Farooq Abdullah suggested that on short term basis, loan waivers and debt waivers will go a long way in alleviating their sufferings and on long term basis farmer friendly well-intended schemes should be implemented to strengthen the backbone of farmers by increasing MSP, increasing insurance cover, doling out soft loans, and building rural infrastructure.
He prayed for the fast upturn of affected families saying that the administration is bound by its duty to come to the rescue of affected at an earliest, ascertain the losses and provide adequate recompense. He also called upon the party’s district functionaries, YNC functionaries to lend helping hand to the affected lot in whichever way they can.
NC MPs Muhammad Akbar Lone, Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi urged the administration to rush Revenue teams to the affected areas to ascertain the losses to people and pay adequate recompense to the affected. They also asked the divisional administration to restore power and electricity supply on priority basis.
Follow our WhatsApp channel