The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has been engulfed in the issue of farmer suicides. So far 14 farmers have committed suicide in April.
Wheat growers in Punjab have witnessed a drop in yield and shrivelled grains because of the early onset of the heatwave. The low yield of the wheat crop has come as a double whammy for many farmers in the cotton belt whose crop was affected due to a pink bollworm attack.
During the election campaign, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal had said - 'Results will come in March'. No one will be allowed to commit suicide inside Punjab from 1st April onwards. It is our responsibility'. Now, the opposition leaders are attacking AAP for this.
Navjot Singh Sidhu tweeted, "CM @BhagwantMann’s 2 day Delhi visit is a deviation from real issues, mere photo op for benefit in other elections & waste of state exchequer. Pb needs policy to get out of Financial, Farmers & Power crisis. Local problems need local solution. Solution lies in Income generation."
PPCC Raja Warring wrote on Twitter,
Sukhdev Singh (68) hanged himself on April 1 in Gurharsahai. Prabhveer Singh (40) of Gurdaspur and Avtar Singh of Moga committed suicide on 2 April. Avatar had a loan of 3 lakhs. On 9 April, Ranjit Singh (45) of Moga, fed up with a loan of 80 lakhs, swallowed a toxic substance. Amritpal Mehta (44) of Jalandhar committed suicide on 13 April.
On 14 April, Kala Singh of Sadiq village in Fazilka and Amarjeet Singh, a farm laborer from Barnala, died of debt. On April 17, a young man committed suicide in Kapurthala. On 18 April, Ramandeep Singh (38) of Bajak village in Bathinda died due to low wheat production. Makhan Singh (42) of Mansa committed suicide on 19 April. On 20 April, Jaspal Singh of Maisarkhana village of Bathinda committed suicide by jumping in front of the train due to low wheat production.
On the same day Gurdeep Singh (28), a farmer of Mansa Khurd in Bathinda, committed suicide for not repaying the loan of 3.25 lakh. On 21 April Randhir Singh of Bhagibandar village of Talwandi Sabo and on 23 April Manjit Singh (40) of Hoshiarpur committed suicide.
In Punjab, farmers have been hit by inflation. The central government has increased the rates of DAP fertilizers. From next season, farmers will get DAP fertilizer costlier by Rs 150. In Punjab, earlier fertilizer was available for Rs 1200, now its cost has gone up to Rs 1,350. The farmers have strongly opposed this.