Punjab announces loan waiver for small farmers
BREATHER Small and marginal farmers the biggest beneficiaries; Punjab CM says relief is double of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh announced on Monday the government will write off up to ₹2 lakh debt of each of its small and marginal farmers, a programme that he said would provide “double” the relief announced by Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Punjab has around 18.5 lakh farmers of which 10.25 lakh have less than 5 acres of land and are classified under small and marginal category.
“8.5 lakh farmers in state owe a (crop) loan of ₹2 lakh and 1.75 lakh who owe more would also get a waiver of ₹2 lakh,” the CM announced on Monday.
By way of calculation, it would cost the state ₹20,500 crore.
“The road map for waiver and total funds required would be announced in tomorrow’s budget by (finance minister) Manpreet Badal,” the chief minister said.
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday announced crop loan waiver of up to ~2 lakh for farmers who own up to 5 acres of agriculture land and a flat relief of ~2 lakh for all other marginal farmers, irrespective of the loan amount.
Making the announcement in the Vidhan Sabha, the chief minister said the move will benefit a total of 10.25 lakh farmers, including 8.75 lakh farmers owning up to 5 acres. It would provide double the relief announced by the states of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, he said.
Making it clear that his government stood by its commitment to waive the loans of farmers, Amarinder said his government has also decided to take over outstanding crop loan “from institutional sources” of all families of farmers who committed suicide in the state. It has also decided to raise the ex gratia for suicide-affected families to ~5 lakh from the existing ~3 lakh.
The decisions are based on the interim report of an expert group headed by economist T Haque that was tasked with suggesting ways and means to help the state’s distressed farming community, said a press release.
Opposition SAD and its ally BJP were not present in the House when the chief minister made the announcement as they had staged a walkout on another issue. However, the main opposition party AAP was present.
Taking a dig at the Akalis’ absence, the Congress leader said they should have remained present in the House and listened him out when he was talking on an issue concerning farmers.
The government has decided to review the Punjab Settlement of Agriculture Indebtedness Act, 2016 to “provide the desired relief to farmers through mutual acceptable debt reconciliation and settlement, which shall be statutorily binding on both the lender and the borrower.”
The government has already constituted a cabinet sub-committee to review the Act, he added. The chief minister proposed that the speaker may constitute a five-member committee of Vidhan Sabha to visit the families of the suicide victims, ascertain the reasons for the extreme step and suggest steps to check this menace forever.
Amarinder informed the House that his government had decided to repeal Section 67 A of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, which provides for auction/kurki of farmers land (auction of mortgaged land). The CM also reiterated the government’s commitment to provide free power to farmers but appealed to all big and well-to-do farmers of the state to give up power subsidy voluntarily.