Chandigarh, Apr 8 (PTI) Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Saturday said the state government has decided to appoint ‘kshatipurti sahayak’ to assist revenue officials in assessing the crop loss because of inclement weather conditions in the state.
Chautala said farmers have so far reported crop loss over 16.83 lakh acres on the kshatipurti portal while the special girdawari (field survey) for the assessment of crop damage was going on.
Addressing the media here, the deputy chief minister said unseasonal rains accompanied by hailstorms and high-velocity winds in February and March caused damage to crops in many areas of the state.
He said the government has decided to hire ‘kshatipurti sahayak’ who will be a villager for assisting ‘patwaris’ (revenue officials) in assessment of crop damage due to inclement weather conditions.
A ‘kshatipurti sahayak’ will carry out a survey of 500 acres of block, he said.
Further, the deputy chief minister said farmers in Charkhi Dadri, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendragarh, Rewari and Sonipat districts have reported crop loss over one lakh acres.
On GST collection, Chautala said the state has mobilised Rs 33,527 crore during the financial year 2022-23 and it was at the fourth spot after Dadra Nagar Haveli, Sikkim and Goa.
He also said the state collected Rs 9,687 crore from excise in the last financial year.
However, he said because of the excise policy of Punjab, which reduced its duties, several liquor vends, located near the Punjab-Haryana border areas in the state, have reported losses.
When asked for comment on some BJP leaders suggesting the party should fight the next year’s polls on its own, Chautala said he has seen questions being raised about the tie-up since the formation of the alliance government in 2019.
Senior BJP leader Birender Singh recently suggested that the party should fight the next Lok Sabha elections on its own.
“For the last three-and-a-half years, how to make the state progressive, we have worked towards that,” he said, referring to the tie-up with the BJP. He said the state has moved forward and made progress in various fields.
At the same time, Chautala said, “But what lies in the future, I am not an astrologer to predict that”.
Furthermore, when asked if his party JJP will fight polls on its own as JJP workers are batting for him to become the Haryana chief minister in future, Chautala evaded a direct reply.
However, he said, “I was listening to the Prime Minister’s address made on BJP’s foundation day in which he said that his party once had two members, but today it has crossed 300”.
“Do we have to limit the organisation to ten seats, not at all. Will BJP fight limit to just 40 (of 90) seats, not at all. Both parties are preparing for 90 seats. What decision will be in the future, that depends on the future,” said Chautala.
On how many of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will the JJP contest, he said, “That depends on the future, but our preparation is for all 10 seats”.
Currently, all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana are held by BJP members.
Asked if there is any possibility of an alliance with the Congress in future, Chautala replied, “Today my alliance is with BJP. I am not going to think elsewhere”.
Earlier this week, Haryana BJP president Om Prakash Dhankar had asserted that the BJP-JJP alliance is on a firm footing and doing well and said any decision on contesting next year’s parliamentary election jointly will be taken at a later stage.
The Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) entered into an alliance with the BJP to form the government in Haryana in 2019 after both outfits could not gain a majority on their own.
In the 2019 assembly polls, JJP won 10 seats while BJP got 40. PTI CHS VSD MR SHW
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