Govt says no to insurance scheme for wheat crop

Chandigarh, January 13
The Punjab government has finally decided that it would not implement the Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) during this rabi season for the wheat crop. Claiming that insurance cover is not required for wheat crop in Punjab as it is safe, mainly because of good irrigation network. The Agriculture Department has decided against launching the scheme of the Agriculture Insurance Company (AIC) of India.

However, the state government now says that it has no objection to the AIC offering its insurance product for wheat crop on its own in Punjab. Maintaining that the scheme would not be of much benefit to farmers, officials in the Agriculture Department said that they did not want to force farmers to pay premium for an insurance cover that was not required in the state.

They said that had the same scheme been offered for vegetable crops or fruits, they would have supported it.

It may be noted that the scheme was propounded by the Union Government last year and the Punjab government had agreed to implement it. A budgetary provision of Rs 5 crore was also made for the implementation of the scheme before the last kharif marketing season. But a pilot conducted for implementation of this scheme in last last kharif season at a few places, including Kalanaur in Gurdaspur, did not get the desired results.

This forced the state government to have a re-think on the viability of this scheme for farmers in Punjab. Meanwhile, AIC officials here said that the scheme should be implemented in at least five districts- Ferozepur, Faridkot, Sangrur, Muktsar and Mansa.

They maintain that the modified NAIS has been formulated, incorporating the necessary changes and modifications in the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) in consultation with states, to make it more comprehensive and farmer friendly. These changes include reducing the notified area for insurance scheme to the panchayat-level for major crops like wheat.

Also, the yield of insured crop would be furnished by the state government by conducting the required number of crop cutting experiments at the village-level. Incidence of hail damage on insured crop would be treated as localised calamity and accordingly individual assessment at the farm-level would be done for claim settlement.

NRI vote scheme fails to inspire Punjab

Over 15 lakh Non-Resident Indians (NRI) don't really seem interested in the forthcoming assembly elections in Punjab despite the fact that several senior leaders, including Punjab Peoples' Party president Manpreet Singh Badal, have been making concerted efforts to seek their assistance and get them to participate.

According to the state election office, a mere 71 NRIs made a request to exercise their franchise, of which 47 of the applicants were rejected, while 24 have been allowed to cast their votes.

Officials said one the main deterrents has been the fact that the election office makes it mandatory for the NRIs tosubmit a copy of the visa, which many of them might have misplaced.

Manpreet Badal undertook an hurricane tour to mobilise support among the NRIs in November last, following which he fell out of favour with his core supporters who charged him with amassing lakhs of rupees from the NRIs, surreptitiously.

At different intervals, former chief minister Amarinder Singh and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal also undertook similar trips abroad to woo the NRIs.

The NRIs wield considerable influence whenever they have been involved in social activities like building schools and hospitals, particularly in the Doaba belt of Punjab. Besides their influence among people here, it is the monetary support that they lend which has been attracting the state's political leaders to them.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab polls have failed to enthuse non-resident Indiansdespite the attempts of all major political parties of the state to reach out to them ever since Manpreet Singh Badal addressed a sizeable gathering during his visit to Canada. Just 54 NRIs have registered with the Election Commission so far. Political parties are, however, keen to woo the NRIs because they send considerable sums of money back home where they have extended families and continue to wield influence. Badal, the estranged nephew of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and president of the People's Party of Punjab, created a stir when he addressed about 20,000 NRIs in Stetson Bowl in Surrey last year. Soon thereafter, the Akali Dal dispatched its NRI affairs minister Balbir Singh Bath to Canada. Amarinder Singh, former chief minister and president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, too went live on a few Canadian and American radio stations. The Congress party also deputed Jassi Khangura, a former NRI and its MLA from Qila Raipur, to reach out to various NRI groups in Canada, the US and Europe. "NRIs can sway votes from overseas as well because they fund campaigns and still have their relatives in India," says Sucha Singh Gill, director of Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development. "NRIs can make their presence felt, but their own participation in the electoral process is negligible," he said. Especially in the Doaba region,there is scarcely any village with a family that doesn't have a relative settled abroad. The NRIs won the right to vote in Indian elections following a notification by the Centre in November 2010. In Kerala, while 8,500 NRIs enrolled as voters, 4,500 exercised their right to vote during the last assembly elections. Many NRIs, however, allege that they are being threatened and told to stay away from the polls in Punjab. "I have been getting threatening calls for the past few months not to come to Punjab during election time. Some of my fellow NRI friends have even taken up this issue with the Punjab government, but we don't expect much from that quarter," said Sukhi Chahal, a member of the North American Punjabi Association. More than 18,000 NRIs are entangled in litigation in Punjab, where 6,000 of them have been declared proclaimed offenders. The NRIs say they are a soft target for the land mafia which they claim operates hand in glove with the state authorities. This makes them hesitant investors in their native state, they say. "The Akali government should explain how they have helped the NRIs? What will be the fate of the 6,000 NRIs who have been declared proclaimed offenders by the police?" says Khangura.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab polls have failed to enthuse non-resident Indiansdespite the attempts of all major political parties of the state to reach out to them ever since Manpreet Singh Badal addressed a sizeable gathering during his visit to Canada.

Just 54 NRIs have registered with the Election Commission so far. Political parties are, however, keen to woo the NRIs because they send considerable sums of money back home where they have extended families and continue to wield influence.

Badal, the estranged nephew of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and president of the People's Party of Punjab, created a stir when he addressed about 20,000 NRIs in Stetson Bowl in Surrey last year. Soon thereafter, the Akali Dal dispatched its NRI affairs minister Balbir Singh Bath to Canada.

Amarinder Singh, former chief minister and president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, too went live on a few Canadian and American radio stations. The Congress party also deputed Jassi Khangura, a former NRI and its MLA from Qila Raipur, to reach out to various NRI groups in Canada, the US and Europe.

"NRIs can sway votes from overseas as well because they fund campaigns and still have their relatives in India," says Sucha Singh Gill, director of Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development.

"NRIs can make their presence felt, but their own participation in the electoral process is negligible," he said. Especially in the Doaba region,there is scarcely any village with a family that doesn't have a relative settled abroad.

The NRIs won the right to vote in Indian elections following a notification by the Centre in November 2010. In Kerala, while 8,500 NRIs enrolled as voters, 4,500 exercised their right to vote during the last assembly elections.

Many NRIs, however, allege that they are being threatened and told to stay away from the polls in Punjab. "I have been getting threatening calls for the past few months not to come to Punjab during election time. Some of my fellow NRI friends have even taken up this issue with the Punjab government, but we don't expect much from that quarter," said Sukhi Chahal, a member of the North American Punjabi Association.

More than 18,000 NRIs are entangled in litigation in Punjab, where 6,000 of them have been declared proclaimed offenders. The NRIs say they are a soft target for the land mafia which they claim operates hand in glove with the state authorities.

This makes them hesitant investors in their native state, they say. "The Akali government should explain how they have helped the NRIs? What will be the fate of the 6,000 NRIs who have been declared proclaimed offenders by the police?" says Khangura.

Badal vs Badal, Singh vs Singh

It all started with the ruling Badal family. Manpreet Badal parted ways with uncle and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to launch his own political outfit, the People’s Party of Punjab. While the stated reason was the “over-dominance” of cousin and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, Manpreet’s father Gurdas Badal said the falling-out happened after an astrologer advised Sukhbir to throw Manpreet out if he wanted his dreams to become the chief minister to come true.

Last month, it was Manpreet who was at the receiving end of the same charges of nepotism when two key aides, Kushaldeep Dhillon and Jagbir Brar, crossed over to the Congress, accusing Manpreet’s brother-in-law Jaijit Singh Jojo and wife Veenu Badal of running the party like their fiefdom.

With elections round the corner, the rebellions have spilled over, cutting across party lines. Analysts say that one reason could be the presence of Manpreet’s

PPP, providing those looking for a ticket an option.

The threat held out by those denied tickets is believed to be responsible for the Congress not announcing its list of candidates yet. As other carrots are held out to placate the disgruntled, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh even claims a merit in this clamour for tickets.

Calling the rebellion in over 30 of the 117 seats as “party workers and leaders smelling blood”, Singh says: “It is not happening for the first time. I have seen this in every election. Such clamour for tickets only happens when a party is sure to return to power. Our surveys have given us 70-plus seats and each wants to be a part of the coming government.”

The rebels:

The Badals are calling it a “decisive coup”. Last week, Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh’s younger brother Malvinder embraced the Akalis at a press conference after his candidature from Samana seat in Patiala was sacrificed for his nephew, Amarinder’s son Raninder Singh. Malvinder accused his sister-in-law, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, of playing the spoilsport.

Amarinder was quick to label his brother’s defection as unprincipled and said it was party president Sonia Gandhi who had picked Raninder for the seat for having given a tough fight to Sukhbir’s wife Harsimrat Badal in Bathinda during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

However, though the Badals have gone to town with Malvinder’s cross-over, the Patiala royal has not yet got the ticket he wanted from Samana.

The Akalis had already nominated a former NRI, Surjit Rakhra, from the post.

Sukhbir’s other important catch this defection season has been Congress dissident Sant Brar, who is now the Akali candidate from Gidderbaha. Manpreet has won the seat four times in a row previously, each time with a higher margin. Brar, who contested last polls as an Independent, had got 28,000 votes compared to the 34,000 for the Congress’s official candidate, Raghubir Singh. Brar’s candidature, however, may cut both ways in a triangular contest. The Congress candidate is Youth Congress’s Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. Other than Warring, Youth Congress faces in Fatehgarh Sahib and Majitha are facing opposition from old “loyalists”.

A big chunk of the rebels are family members of senior leaders denied tickets. While former chief minister Beant Singh’s son Tej Prakash opted out to make way for son Gurkirat Singh (from Khanna), Beant’s daughter Gurkanwal Kaur has described the Congress decision to field Manpreet’s cousin Jagbir Brar from Jalandhar Cantt as “rewarding turncoats”.

In the Akali Dal, the disgruntlement among members can largely be attributed to the rising clout of son Sukhbir and resistance to him by the old guard. At Dera Bassi, the daughter of former minister Captain Kawaljit Singh has raised a banner of revolt over “disrespect” to her father’s legacy in denial of seat to brother Jasjit Singh Bunny. She has announced that she would contest as an Independent against the Akali nominee, property baron N K Sharma. In Nawanshahr, Sukhbir’s decision to field Satinder Kariha, wife of MLA Jatinder Singh Kariha who passed away last year, is being opposed.

Sirhind MLA Didar Bhatti joined the PPP after being denied a SAD ticket and is now its candidate from neighbouring Fatehgarh Sahib seat.

In Ropar, a former education minister of the Akalis has joined the PPP too. The party had to also expel one of its candidates, Balwinder Singh Bains, finalised from Ludhiana south, after his brother Simarjit Singh Bains declared himself an Independent candidate against the party nominee, minister Hira Singh Gabria, from Ludhiana’s Atam Nagar constituency.

In Dera Bassi, the Congress is facing rebellion. Deepinder Dhillon, a close aide of Preneet Kaur, has decided to contest as an Independent against the party nominee from the seat, ex-minister Jasjit Randhawa, who incidentally is an Amarinder loyalist. 

Badal old-fashioned, I’m decisive: Capt

Chandigarh, January 10
Punjab Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh is hopeful of bouncing back to power in Punjab and said his government would deliver from Day one. He debunked all talk about his wife Preneet Kaur, who is the Patiala MP, being a chief ministerial candidate.

In an interview with Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune, Raj Chengappa, Amarinder maintained the Congress could not designate him as the chief ministerial candidate as the party would take this decision only after polls in all states.

He indicated that his track record as well as performance as the Chief Minister would be taken into consideration by the party high command. Playing down the revolt by his brother Malvinder Singh, who has joined the SAD, Amarinder said the Congress was comfortably poised in the state.

On the Manpreet factor, he said the PPP would only make a dent in the Akali vote share.

When asked how he compares himself to Parkash Singh Badal, Amarinder said in lighter vein: “I am going on 70 but feel like 35.” He added: “Badal’s system of working is old-fashioned. He is indecisive. I take quick decisions and I will deliver from Day one.”