A day after he quit as chief minister after being humiliated by the party amid the Punjab Congress crisis, Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday expressed sorrow at having to cancel the scheduled disbursement of appointment letters to families of 150 farmers who had lost their lives in the ongoing agitation against the Farm Laws.
The former chief minister said that with the new CM-designate already announced, he would unfortunately not be able to personally hand over job letters to the next of kin of the deceased farmers even though his council of ministers had already accorded approval to the proposal. He hoped the new chief minister would carry out the task at the earliest to provide relief to the affected families.
Captain Amarinder urged the CM-designate, Charanjit Singh Channi, to ensure that the state government continues to stand with the beleaguered farmers of Punjab, “who have sacrificed their lives in our collective fight for justice.”
The former chief minister made it clear that he would continue to support the farmers in their battle for survival and justice. “Every Punjabi, in fact every Indian, is morally bound to stand with the farmers in their hour of despair,” he said, asserting that even though he was no longer holding the state’s reins, his heart remained with the farmers and their families and he would do everything in his power to ensure that they get their due.
Captain Amarinder, whose government had also released Rs 14,85,50,000 in compensation to the next of kin of the 298 deceased farmers, said he would not allow the sacrifices of India’s `annadaatas’ to go waste. It was the responsibility of every government and political dispensation, be it in Punjab or any other state, as well as the Centre, to ensure that the farmers get their due. He said that cases of 51 more families were under process.
