Barnala (Punjab): With paddy sowing officially starting across Punjab on Wednesday, police in Barnala district distributed sanitation kits to the labourers engaged in the work, and also made them aware of the precautions to be taken against coronavirus.
This year, paddy is set to be sown across 1,10,000 hectares in Barnala district.
The Barnala police distributed sanitation kits to labourers and also spread awareness on the precautions to take. Barnala DSP Varinderpal Singh said that the kits have been distributed to labourers in three different villages of Barnala district, which would continue in the coming days as well.
However, the biggest issue that the farmers are facing this time around, is the shortage of migrant labourers. As a result, farmers are taking the help of local labourers to get the job done.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, the farmers said that both the state and the Centre have made no provisions for labour, hence they themselves are arranging for labour, which would increase their expenses this time.
Besides, the farmers said that they had demanded 10 hours of continuous power supply for paddy sowing, but the government was providing only five to six hours of supply. As a result, they may face problems in sowing paddy this time.
