PUNJAB ANNOUNCES LOAN WAIVER FOR SMALL FARMERS
Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh on Monday announced total waiver of crop loans of up to ~2 lakh of small and marginal farmers, and a flat ~2 lakh relief for all marginal farmers, irrespective of the loan amount. The announcement has paved way for eventual total waiver of agricultural debts, a major poll promise of the Congress during the Punjab Assembly polls in March this year. The CM noted the move would benefit 1.09 million farmers, including 0.87 million farmers up to five acres.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday announced total waiver of crop loans up to ~2 lakh of small and marginal farmers, and a flat ~2 lakh relief for all marginal farmers, irrespective of the loan amount.
The announcement has thus paved way for eventual total waiver of agricultural debts, which was a major poll promise of the Congress during the Punjab Assembly polls in March this year.
Speaking at the Assembly in Chandigarh, the chief minister noted the move would benefit around 1 million farmers, including 875,000 farmers up to 5 acres.
The initiative would provide double the relief announced by Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, he said.
He said the decision was based on the interim report of the Expert Group, headed by eminent economist T Haque, which was tasked with suggesting ways and means to help the state’s distressed farming community.
Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (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 Aam Aadmi Party 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.
Making it clear that his government stood by its commitment to waive the crop loans of farmers, Amarinder said, “We want to make the farmers most prosperous in this country.” He said his government had decided to take over the outstanding crop loans from institutional sources of the families of farmers who committed suicide in the state.
“It has also been decided to raise the ex-gratia for suicide affected families to ~5 lakh from the existing ~3 lakh," he said.
As debt relief to farmers for loans raised from non-institutional resources, 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 parties — 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 the 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 already 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).