Punjab farmers in Georgia at a loose end

Badal says will ask Centre to intervene

The issue of Punjabi farmers owning farmland in Georgia being denied visas by the Georgian government has become a cause for concern in Punjab where scores of farmers in recent years have bought agricultural land at cheap rates.

Raising the issue, Sukhpal Khaira, a former Congress MLA, said that farmers, lured by unscrupulous agents and false advertisements, had lost investment worth crores of rupees.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has also expressed concern and said it was a matter for the Central government to pursue with the Georgian government and that he would urge the Centre to look into the problem.

In a statement issued here, Mr. Khaira saidPunjabi farmers had spent their life’s savings to invest in Georgia. But without assigning any legitimate reason, the Georgia government had been denying them visa.

Their large-scale exodus underlined the critical situation of the State’s agrarian economy, he added.