MLA Shopian Adv. Mohd Yousuf Bhat has described the recent scale of relief under “State specific special natural calamity” for damaged orchards due to recent snowfall grossly inadequate and squarely against the expectations of affected orchardists and demanded adequate compensation to the those whose trees got damaged due to snowfall.
“The governor administration is morally and constitutionally bound to come to the rescue of calamity affected people who are in desperate need of some relief and the recent amount of relief announced amounts to adding salt to their wounds. Horticulture is the backbone of state’s economy and heavy snowfall has dealt a blow to it and this needed empathy, large heartedness and a positive effort to win the people in distress,” he said in a statement to KNS.
While reiterating his demand for implementation of crop insurance scheme, to give some cushion to the fruit growers, in times of natural calamities, Bhat said, “he had raised this issue of crop insurance scheme in state assembly and the same was announced by previous government but the same was not implemented by the incumbent government for the reasons better known to them.”
Bhat further urged upon the government for exemption of Kissan credit card loan to fruit growers whose harvest was damaged by the snowfall and have suffered huge losses and thereby are not in a position to repay the loans raised by them against their farming land and orchards. The loan waiver would benefit the farmers all over and will be a succor to the ailing horticulture sector in general and recently aggrieved farmers in particular.
