Pesticide scam: Not much was wrong with Oberon, says Punjab agriculture minister

Farmers have been blaming the pesticide, supplied by the state government, for the white-fly attack on cotton crop, saying it was not able to contain the pest attack.

On why the government had suspended Director (agriculture) if there was no scam, Tota Singh said, “That was because some dealers of the pesticide in Talwandi Sabo alleged he was demanding money. Moreover, the then CLP leader, Sunil Kumar Jakhar, had exerted a lot of pressure.”

On AAP demanding his resignation, the minister said, “They have woken up now. They don’t know anything about farming. Can they tell me if anybody among them has ever grown a crop? They want to just take political capital out of this issue. Even Capt Amarinder Singh raised this issue in his rally yesterday. I want to ask him if he was responsible for the American Bollworm that destroyed crop during his regime? Was he responsible for the pest attack? I wonder why these people keep raising this issue again and again while nobody in Haryana, Rajasthan or even Pakistan, where the white-fly devastated crop, has created any created any shindig”.

The minister further said that he was the one who raised a flag when the white-fly attack was reported: “I read Jakhar’s statement in a newspaper about the pest attack on August 21. I called him up that very morning. He told me cotton farmers were in bad shape and suggested I get a special girdawari done. I took his advice and called up Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal immediately. He agreed and a special girdawari was ordered. We have paid a compensation of Rs 8,000 to farmers who have lost 33 per cent of cotton crop in the attack,” he said.

On calls his resignation he said a petition was pending against him in the high court: “I have been issued a notice by the high court and I will respond to that. Whatever the court wants me to do, I will. But not on their demand. Are they bigger than the court.”

Tota Singh also appeared that suspended Director (Agriculture) Mangal Singh Sandhu did not have anything in store in the future: “He was handpicked by the CM but he went to the court against the government. He was already on an extension and should have honoured the chief minister for what all had been done for him.