CAPT ORDERS RELEASE OF FARMERS, FORMS PANEL

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Am arin der Singh has ordered release of all farmers who were taken into preventive detention ahead of their protest that started in Patiala on Friday. The CM has also constituted a three-member committee, headed by senior party leader and Punjab Mandi Board chairman Lal Singh, to hear farmers’ grievance sand also apprise them of the steps taken by his government on crop loan waiver. The other members of the committee include Ramanjit Singh Sikki and Gurpreet Singh Kangar.

The CM directed the director general of police and district authorities to facilitate the release of farmers who were resorting to agitation out of sheer desperation and did not really mean to create any law and order problem.

Of the total 377 farmers, 34 have already been released while 308 are in judicial custody and 35 in police custody, an official spokesperson said, adding that the process to secure the release of those in custody was being initiated.

While appealing to the farmers to be patient, Amarinder said he had inherited a government with empty coffers but despite that, steps to waive crop loans of farmers had been initiated and a notification, the draft of which was cleared by the cabinet two days ago, will be issued soon. He said that he was committed to fulfilling each and every promise made in the party’s election manifesto, which hadbeen adopted as a policy paper for his government.