CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday said farmers whose crops were damaged due to the recent hailstorm will be given a compensation higher than the current rate of Rs 12,000 per acre.
This will be announced at the next cabinet meeting, he said in Jharothi village in Sonipat district.
The chief minister was speaking in a programme related to crop failure, according to an official statement.
Khattar made several announcements for the farmers in Jharothi village, and said he himself is a farmer's son and the entire Haryana is like his family.
"Haryana is a land of farmers. When farmers are happy, then only shopkeepers, workers, traders, and people running factories will be benefitted," he said.
Taking a dig at the previous Congress government, Khattar said when crops were damaged due to rains back then, money used to be deposited in the accounts of the farmers after one and a half months.
"During the previous governments, cheques of only up to Rs 2, Rs 4 and Rs 10 were also given to the farmers," he claimed.
When the new government was formed in the state, it was decided that no farmer's cheque would be made less than Rs 500, Khattar said.
In the earlier governments, Rs 5,700 per acre was given as compensation for crop failure, and it was later increased to Rs 7,500, the chief minister said.
When the new government was formed, it announced a compensation of Rs 12,000 per acre, he added.
Khattar said he has already conducted an aerial inspection of the villages of Gohana, Julana and Kharkhoda blocks for crop failure.