Debt waiver unrest: Shun the path of agitation, Amarinder urges farmers

Considering the financial problems which my govt inherited from Akalis, and also considering the lack of support from Centre, it’s not possible, at present, to extend the debt waiver to more farmers. CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, chief minister

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Capt Am arin der Sing hon Saturday said it can’t extend the debt waiver scheme to all farmers due to lack of support from the Centre coupled with bad finances inherited from the Akali dispensation.

Appealing the state’s farming community to shun protest, Amarinder, in a release, said his government could not afford to waive any more of their debts at the present juncture, but was committed to alleviating all their woes at the earliest.

He said his government had waived more debts of its farmers than other states.

Citing the examples of Maharashtra (up to Rs 1.5 lakh waiver), Uttar Pradesh (up to Rs 1 lakh waiver), Rajasthan (up to Rs 50,000 waiver), Madhya Pradesh (up to Rs 1 lakh waiver) and Karnataka (up to Rs 50,000 waiver), Amarinder pointed out the extent to which his government had stretched itself to fulfil this important promise of the ruling party to the farming community.

Amarinder also appealed to the farmers not to be misled by the opposition parties and some kisan unions, who were spreading “false propaganda” on the issue of farm debt waiver.

“Considering the financial problems which my government had inherited from the Akalis, and also considering the lack of support on the issue from the central government, it is not possible, at present, to extend the debt waiver scheme to more farmers or to waive more than Rs 2 lakh,” the chief minister said in the release.

The thrust, he said, was on helping small and marginal farmers, adding that all farmers would eventually be covered under the debt waiver scheme once the state’s economy started stabilising.