R S PURA: Emphasizing that friendly relations between India and Pakistan were paramount for sustainable peace and development of the whole subcontinent, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said that people living in border areas were the worst affected and deserved peace the most.
She also lambasted the ‘callous attitude’ of the J&K administration towards farmers who suffered massive losses due to recent adverse weather conditions. The former chief minister said rice cultivators in the border belts of Jammu and those growing apples and dry fruits in Kashmir contribute a major portion towards the economy of J&K, and in both the regions the losses suffered by them due to rain and snowfall ran into crores of rupees.
“I am told that the government has assured peanuts as compensation to the farmers of R S Pura, Bishnah, Samba and other plains of Jammu where farmers have suffered extensive damage to their standing crops,” Mufti said.
She said that the sudden change in weather has damaged the crops of farmers and brought them to the verge of starvation. “But the government, I am told, has fixed Rs 600 compensation per kanal, which is disgraceful and disdainful for this hard working class of society,” she said.
She also lambasted the BJP-led central government, stating that it had adopted a hostile attitude towards farmers across the country and J&K was no exception.