NewZNew (Bathinda) : Terming the farmers’ rally of Congress on the Land Acquisition Bill as a flop show and mere drama, the Union Minister for Food Processing Industry, Government of India, Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that Congress was misleading farmers of the country.

“The Land Acquisition Bill is farmer friendly bill that safeguards the interest of farmers. Sadly enough the Congress leader Mr Rahul Gandhi, who is back after two months vacationing, has run out of issues and hence is heading this issueless campaign,” said Mrs Badal while talking to media persons at village Ghudda during sangat darshan program.

The Union Minister said that Congress had lost moral rights to question the Land Acquisition Bill when it has remained mute spectator to Robert Vadra’s trick wherein his Rs 1 lac company owned crores of land of poor farmers. First Congress should ensure that the poor farmers’ land is given back to them from Vadra,” she said.

The Union Minister added that Punjab as best Land Acquisition Policy under which farmers are paid 30 to 40 percent more than the current market price. This is the prime reason behind land acquisition going smoothly in the state for the past 10 years and center should replicate the same policy elsewhere pan India, she said.

Mrs Badal said that the Congress has been deeply involved in its nefarious designs against the country’s farmer when it introduced the Land Acquisition Bill just a month before 2014 general elections leaving no time for the Parliament to decide it. “The Modi led NDA government has rectified Congress proposed bill and made it farmer friendly. Congress does not want the farming community to prosper, the way it has done in the 60 years of its rule over India,” she said.

She added that instead the Modi government has now provided biggest ever relief to farmers by raising the limit for crop damage, to claim compensation, by 50 percent against the 33 percent government earlier gave. She said that due to unseasonal rains a large number of states have faced damaged crops. Despite the high moisture content and other problems, the Government of India has assured farmers that their crops would be procured and they would not face any kind of problem.

She said that the Government of India has awarded many big projects to Punjab that included massive upgradation of roads at Rs 18000 cr. Similarly the government has sanctioned All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for Punjab that was coming up in region in 200 acres of land at a cost of Rs 1600 cr that would be fountainhead of medical research and give the best of medical treatment at no cost to the poor patients.

Speaking on the issue of pensions she said that the pension of none of beneficiaries has been struck off in state albeit as per the orders of High Court the verification of beneficiaries was being done so that the genuine beneficiary does not suffer. She added that very soon work would begin under MNREGA scheme as earlier the Congress government had looted country leaving it with empty coffers. The Modi government will now soon give people their dues under MNREGA scheme.

The Union Minister gave appointment letters to widows of martyrs who laid their lives guarding the nation. Kuldeep Kaur, wife of martyr Lance Naik Sukhwinder Singh from village Sooch who was attained martyrdom in Jammu and Kashmir, was given appointment letter. Similarly, Jaspal Kaur, wife of martyr Lance Naik Jagga Singh from village Behman Kaur Singh, who was killed in Manipur was give the letter.

The Union Minister today conducted sangat darshan of villages of Rai Ke Khurd, Chak Attar Singh Wala, Batti Patti, Bajak, Ghudda, Chughe Khurd, Karamgarh Satran and Virk Khurd where she distributed grants worth Rs 1.50 cr for various developmental works in these villages.

Prominent among others present included MLA Bathinda rural Mr Darshan Singh Kotfatta, Deputy Commissioner Bathinda Dr Basant Garg, SSP Mr Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti, OSD to the MP Mr Harinder Singh Sra, OSD to the MP Mr Manish Kumar, assistant media advisor to deputy CM Mr Harjinder Sidhu, ADC (development) Mr Varinder Sharma, ADC (general) Mr Sumeet Jarangal and others.