AAP govt, Centre indifferent to Delhi farmers' plight: Maken

Congress today accused the AAP government and the BJP-led Centre of being indifferent to the plight of farmers, whose crops were hit in the recent rain and hailstorm.
Delhi Congress Chief Ajay Maken, accompanied by senior party leaders PC Chacko, Sajjan Kumar, Yoganand Shastri, today visited Bajitpur, Katewra and Kutubgarh villages at the Bawana area in outer Delhi here.
"Sonia Gandhi while returning from her Haryana visit via a chopper saw the extensive damage to crops and asked us to visit the farmers, interact and assess the damages," Chacko said after the visit.
Congress delegation inspected the crops on the road side during the visit, that lasted around two hours, and tasked the party's former Bawana MLA Surendra Kumar with preparing a detailed report on the extent of damage.

"He (Kumar) will prepare the report and submit it to Chacko who in turn will forward it to Gandhi for further action," Maken said, adding that no one from AAP or BJP has even visited the affected areas.
"They should sent their representatives to assess the losses and disburse compensation immediately."

In her recent visits to areas affected by unseasonal rains in Haryana and Rajasthan, Congress President Sonia Gandhi vowed to "fight" for the interests of farmers and asked the BJP-ruled states to ensure timely payment of compensation.
Terming losses to farmers as "considerable devastation", Maken said damage to the crops was enormous and the government should initate a survey of the loss to begin the process of compensation.

"We demand the Central government and the Delhi government to send its ministers and representatives to the affected villages to assess the loss and announce Gidwari to compensate farmers who have lost around Rs 25-30 thousand per acre," he said.
The Delhi Congress chief also said that a Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee delegation would meet Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and press for payment of compensation to the farmers.