Chandigarh, Jan 28 (IANS): Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday demanded compensation for mustard farmers as 70-90 per cent of the crop has been damaged due to frost.

He said the BJP-JJP government neither carried out the 'girdawari' nor announced compensation. He demanded the government should come forward to help the farmers without delay.

Hooda said the farmers are protesting at many places demanding compensation for the Kharif crop of 2020. "For the last several seasons, farmers have either been given a nominal amount of compensation or they do not get any compensation at all. In this way, the government and insurance companies have duped the farmers of hundreds of crores."

"Even after paying premium to the insurance companies every season, the hands of the farmers remain empty. While insurance companies have earned huge profits of more than Rs 40,000 crore from Haryana. Under the protection of the government, insurance companies are minting money while farmers wait for support," the Leader of Opposition said.

He said the government had announced the purchase of millet under the Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana, but neither the farmers get the minimum support price (MSP) of the crop, nor was their loss compensated under Bhavantar. "Till date, the government owes Rs 120 crore to the farmers," he said.

Similarly, under crop diversification, the government had announced an incentive of Rs 7,000 per acre to the farmers for growing maize instead of paddy but they have not received any support under this scheme till date.

"From paddy to wheat scam, no action has been taken till date. The case of rotting of 42,000 metric tonnes of wheat in four districts is still pending. The committee formed and was tasked to complete the investigation and take action after presenting the report in 30 days. But today the result is zero even after 80 days have passed," he pointed out.

Hooda said due to these policies and corruption of the BJP-JJP government, the farmers are on the verge of destruction.

"According to Union government reports, today, on an average, every farmer family in the country has a debt of 74,221, while farmers of Haryana have a loan of Rs 1.82 lakh, almost two and a half times the national average. Haryana was on top in agriculture and development during the Congress government, today it is one of the leading states in terms of debt," he added.