DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday termed Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's the "rice shoot policy" as anti-farmer and yet another move to prevent them from cultivating paddy. Challenging Khattar for an open debate on public issues, the chief spokesperson of the Congress said farmers in Kaithal, Jind, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Ambala and Yamunanagar districts will be adversely affected by the policy. Rice shoots are temporary openings in water channels of the irrigation department issued to farmers for a limited period for their rice crop. "It is yet another anti-farmer step taken by this government which wants to completely ban paddy cultivation," Surjewala said while addressing the media through video conferencing. Quoting data of the agriculture department, Surjewala said paddy is cultivated on 35.13 lakh acres of land in Haryana and the state produces about 5 million tonnes of paddy every year. "But the latest rice shoot policy issued on June 3, 2020, the state government's goal seems to completely eliminate paddy cultivation in Haryana and hit the farmer hard by snatching away their bread and butter," he claimed as he hit out at the state government. The Congress leader further alleged that the Khattar government had hastened to bring the policy "as the farmers, besides the opposition, had outrightly rejected the curbs imposed on paddy cultivation under the 'Mera Pani Meri Virasat' scheme launched last month". Referring to various "anti-farmer" steps by BJP-JJP Government, Surjewala said that on the one hand Khattar government has shelved the Dadupur Nalvi recharge canal project, on the other hand rice shoots were being stopped. Referring to various conditions in the new policy, Surjewala said no rice shoot would be permitted on all channels in Haryana having discharge of less than 10 cusecs of water. "Rice shoot fees have been increased by 100 per cent to Rs 300 per acre. Rice shoots will not be provided in the entire Haryana on less than 20 acres of land. There will also be a condition that paddy cannot be planted in more than 15 acres of land out of those 20 acres," he said. (editor@dailyworld.in)