On the occasion of the 118th birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, who gave the ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ slogan, Bajwa said that these two sections – army personnel and farmers – assisted in nation-building more than any other section. “Yet, the AAP government has failed to acknowledge their woes. Instead of providing a helping hand to the ex-servicemen, it has scrapped the Guardian of Governance (GoG) scheme launched by the previous Congress regime to provide employment to the retired army personnel,” he said, accusing the state government of leaving around 4,300 ex-servicemen jobless.

The Congress leader also accused the AAP government of showing sheer negligent approach towards the farming sector that has already been reeling under crisis. “Cotton growers of the Malwa region in Punjab had got their crops damaged due to the Pink Bollworm (Gulabi Sundi) attack and the government has yet to conduct a girdawari (survey) to assess the damage. Likewise, around 20% of the paddy crop in the Majha and Doaba region has been damaged by an infestation of the dwarf virus, nothing has been done to assess the damage,” he added in a statement.

He further said thousands of dairy farmers suffered losses due to lumpy skin diseases in cows and no compensation was paid. “The farmers in Punjab were also felt cheated by both central and state governments due to non-payment of the low-yield of the wheat crop”, he added.