Akali Dal core committee takes up farmers issue with Centre

As thousands of Punjab farmers, especially cotton growers, grappled with damaged crops, ruling Shiromani Akali Dal on Thursday said it will raise the issue with the Centre. A SAD delegation, comprising senior leadership of the party, will approach the Union government to apprise it of the various serious issues faced by the beleaguered peasantry in the state. The decision was taken at a specially convened meeting of the Core Committee of the party held at the residence of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here this evening.

Giving details of the meeting, party general secretary Harcharan Bains told reporters that there was a strong feeling among Core Committee members that the party and SAD-BJP government in Punjab should jointly bring national focus on the "critical" farming sector.

The meeting, chaired by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, was of the view that a major initiative in the form of a liberal economic dispensation was called for, Bains said.