Congress abetting farmers’ suicides, says Majithia

: Raising the issue of suicides by farmers, the general secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Bikram Singh Majithia on Sunday maintained that “the Congress government was abetting these suicides by failing to implement its promise of complete farm loan waiver”. After felicitating the sarpanches and panches, elected in the recently held Panchayat polls at his residence here, Majithia said Congress president Rahul Gandhi‘s model of farm loan waiver was a “betrayal” to the farming community in Punjab and the country. He said it was shocking that a Ferozepur farmer had to kill his wife and two children due to financial stress, as he had not received any help from the government to clear his debts.

Majithia said, the Congress government’s farm loan waiver scheme had not even benefited the poster boy of Congress ‘Karza Kurki Khatam, Fasal di poori rakam’ scheme, Budh Singh, of Kotli Surat Mallian village. He said Budh Singh’s loan was cleared by a social worker when the Congress government failed to honor its promise.

The Akali leader asked Rahul Gandhi to implement the promise of complete loan waiver of Rs.90,000 crore in Punjab first before giving assurances to the farmers of other states.

He accused the Congress government of not waiving off the debt of even 1 per cent farmers in the state. “The state government had waived off only the crop loan. Majority of farmers are committing suicides under the burden of loans taken from banks and agents,” he added.