CM meets villagers of Tendiwala near Zero Line Hussainiwala to boost their morale in tense situation
CM meets villagers of Tendiwala near Zero Line Hussainiwala to boost their morale in tense situation
Decision to evacuate villages near Indo-Pak border in Punjab taken in consultation with Home Minister : CM
Tendiwala(Near Zero Line) Hussainiwala, October 3, 2016: Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab today visited Tendiwala village just near the Indo-Pak border to boost their morale in tense situation after the Surgical Strike in Jammu and Kashmir across the Line of Control (LoC) ordering the evacuation of villagers within the 10 KMs radius from the border line to safer zones in relief camps.
Headlines :
CM directs Food Deptt to procure every single grain of paddy in border villages
Tendiwala villagers raised questions of non-payment of compensation of floods during last year
He was accompanied by Sher Singh Ghubauya, MP, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Cabinet Minister, Sukhpal Singh Nannu, former CPS and Kamal Sharma, National Executive Committee Member, BJP besides the presence of senior civil and police officers.
CM said, I congratulate the Prime Minister and Army authorities for the Surgical Strike in J&K by taking a bold decision.
Appreciating the action of the army, he said, there is no army in the work which has worked in such a planned manner without any loss of our lives.
Fearing the retaliation from across the border, the Central Government ordered for the evacuation of villagers within 10 KMs border belt. I personally talked to Rajnath Singh, Home Minister, on the evacuation issue, who expressed its necessity.
My purpose to come to border villages to solve the problems being faced by you and I immediately talked to Home Minister also with regard to banning the entry of farmers beyond the barbered wire, who allowed the farmers as per the scheduled timings of the Border Security Force.
Headlines :
CM directs Food Deptt to procure every single grain of paddy in border villages
Tendiwala villagers raised questions of non-payment of compensation of floods during last year
Despite evacuation orders, huge gathering was seen in the village on the visit of Chief Minister as the residents of the area have still not accepted the war like situation in the absence of any movement of army.
Chief Minister, during interaction with the villagers, who were present in good numbers, ordered the Food & Supplies Department to procure every single grain of the farmers of the border belt villages.
Regarding giving ownership of the lands to the farmers cultivating the land in border areas, he said, I have asked the Deputy Commissioner to come with the relevant record to Chandigarh to take up the matter with the Financial Commissioner Revenue and Accountant General before taking a final decision from legal point of view.
To another question, he said, our is democratic government but I appeal to all the political parties that this is not the right time for any commentary rather all should come forward to help the Punjab.
I had earlier also seen that Punjabis play a great role in any tense situation and have sacrificed for the freedom of the country and even now, for Punjabis, country is first, who serve the country by bearing the problems, he added.
On asking about having no evacuation orders in Gurjarat which touches with Pakistan border, he said, Rajasthan has very small population along the border as compared to Punjab villages like Tendiwala where we are sitting now.
With regard to financial assistance sent to the Deputy Commissioner of Rs.1 crore to meet with the expenses on relief camps, he said, I have been told that a rumour has been floated that Rs.1 crore has been given to each Sarpanch and people are after them to have their share. Certain people try to exploit the situation with such rumours but believe on them.
So far as the standing ripen paddy crop is concerned, he directed the Depluty Commissioner and Food and Supplies Department to ensure the procurement of every single grain of paddy in the border villages.
Before heading for Fazilka, Chief Minister, accompanied by Vardev Singh Nony Mann, Halqa Incharge, also visited Gazniwala village falling under Guruharsahai constituency, to know about well-being of villagers in war like situation.
Sukhpal Singh Nannu, former CPS who is regularly visiting the border villages since the announcement of evacuation, is arranging langar for the villagers in the border-belt.
When contacted Japal Singh of the villages, he alleged that the relief camp has been set up at a distant places and we have to spend a lot of money for coming in the morning and going back in the evening on transportation. It would be better if we are paid some compensation in our bank accounts.
Another villager, Mukhtiar Singh pointed out that the labour engaged under MGNREGA have not been paid even for the last year and even now only few days work is allotted. Not only this, there has been no regular atta and dall supplies in this village and compensation under Flood Control Protection of the last year, as indicated on the flex hanging in the village has not been disbursed so far.
