Can’t waive more debts: Punjab CM

The Punjab government on Saturday said it cannot extend the debt waiver scheme to all farmers or waive more than ~200,000 due to lack of support from the Centre, coupled with bad finances inherited from the Akali dispensation.

“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 ~2 lakh,” appealing the state’s farming community to shun protest, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, said in a release.

Citing the examples of Maharashtra (up to ~150,000), Uttar Pradesh (up to ~100,000), Rajasthan (up to ~50,000), Madhya Pradesh (up to ~100,000) and Karnataka (up to ~50,000), the Congress leader pointed out the extent to which his government had stretched itself. Singh 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.

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. He added that his government was reeling under a debt trap of over ~2 trillion when he took over from the SAD-BJP government last year.