Asserting his continued support to the farmers agitatingagainst the three Black Farm Laws, Punjab Chief Minister Captain AmarinderSingh on Friday launched a Rs 520 crore debt relief scheme for 2.85 lakh farmlabourers and landless farmers, in a befitting tribute to former Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi’s pro-poor vision of the former Prime Minister.
“I hope and wish a day will come when India will be freefrom poverty, which is Rajiv Gandhi dreamed about,” said the Chief Minister,dedicating the important scheme to the state on the 77th birth anniversary ofhis close friend. Noting that Rajiv was a close friend, Captain Amarinder saidthe former Prime Minister used to always ask when the day will come when peoplewill have their own houses to live and India would be free from poverty. He,therefore, thought it apt to launch this scheme on the birth anniversary ofRajiv, said the Chief Minister, adding that the Congress had fighting for thepeople for the last 130 years.
The Chief Minister said his government had decided towaive off loans amounting to Rs 520 crores of farm labour and landless farmerswith respect to the principal amount against their cooperative loans as on July31, 2017, and simple interest @ 7.00% p.a. on the above amount till 6th March, 2019.It is noteworthy that the state government had earlier waived off Rs 4700 croreworth of loans (up to Rs 2 lakh of crop loan each) for 5.85 lakh Small andMarginal famers.
Declaring that his “heart is with the farmers who areprotesting at the Delhi borders”, the Chief Minister made it clear that he doesnot agree with the stand taken by the central government, who are not listeningto the farmers. “We have amended the Constitution 127 times, so why are we notdoing it now? Why is the Government of India standing on prestige on the issueof the Farm Laws,” he asked, adding that he had categorically urged the PrimeMinister and the Union Home Minister to repeal the legislations.”
The Chief Minister said he had been asked to stop Punjabfarmers from going to Delhi “but I never stopped as everyone has the right toprotest in the national capital; protest is a democratic right.” “These smallfarmers are not fighting for themselves but for their coming generations,” hesaid, questioning why the Centre could not see the pain of the protestingfarmers.
These farmers are mostly those who own an average of 2.5 acres ofland, he pointed out, recalling that during a visit to Poland long back he hadseen that country increasing the land ceiling from the existing 40 acres to 100acres as families could not feed themselves with such small land holdings. “Soyou can imagine what will happen to those who have just 2.5 acres,” heremarked, asking “how will they feed their families if the new laws are imposedon them?”
Pointing out that around 400 farmers had died, he saidhis government was giving Rs 5 lakh to the families of the state’s farmers whohad lost their jobs. In addition, they were being given jobs, and 200 hadalready got their appointment letters, he said, adding that the Centre need toprotect the MSP and the market system as well as the age-old relationshipbetween the farmers and the Arhtiyas in the interest of the nation.
In a token gesture to launch the scheme, the ChiefMinister personally handed over cheques to 21 farm labourers and landlesslabourers, with Ministers and MLAs set to disburse the cheques to all othersover the next few days.
Recalling that farmer suicides were a common affair whenhis government took over in March 2017, the Chief Minister said they hadundertaken the task of identifying the poor farmers and found that around 15.7lakh landless farmers and farm labourers constitute 48% of the state’s 32.7Lakh Rural Households (Census of 2011). Another 9.8 lakh were Rural CultivatingHouseholds (30%), he said, adding that together, the people engaged inagriculture account for 78% of Rural Households.
He lauded them for carrying ontheir operations to produce bumper crops and continuing to contribute to thestate’s economy despite the threat of COVID, which had claimed the lives of16000 Punjabis so far.
Underlining his government’s commitment to the welfare ofthe farming community, the Chief Minister said agriculture in the country todaystood at the crossroads as a result of growing rural indebtedness and farmersuicides. The lack of suitable crop insurance by the central government, thehigh cost of inputs and the Centre’s failure to implement the recommendationsof Swaminathan Committee in letter andin spirit were compounding the farmers’ woes, in addition to the vagaries ofthe weather, he said.
Besides free power to farmers, which he said “willcontinue till I am there”, his government had ensured nine hassle-freeprocurement seasons with timely payments and had launched Mission Lal Lakir tocreate land records within the Lal Lakir and provide easier access to credit,said Captain Amarinder. Further, he said he had written to the Prime Ministerto amend the Legal Services Act to enable Free Legal Aid to farmers for anyrevenue civil or criminal case.
The Chief Minister spoke about other similar debt reliefprogrammes have also been launched by the Captain Amarinder government since ittook over the state’s reins in 2017. The One Time Settlement Scheme-2017 waslaunched for borrowers of Cooperative Banks and benefitted 5,941 persons to the tune of Rs.128 Crores. The New DebtSettlement 2020 has already benefitted 3369 persons with total debt relief ofRs. 78.04 crores so far, and will continue till January 31, 2022.
In response to Speaker Rana KP Singh’s concern on theplight of small traders and urban shopkeepers amid the pandemic, the ChiefMinister assured of measures to support them too, while ruling out any furtherlockdowns with the hope that the state would be spared a third wave of Covid.The Speaker lauded the Chief Minister for the state’s decisive battleagainst Covid, and his role in breakingthe backbone of the drugs trade and ending gangsterism in the state, along withwaiver of farmer loans and timely payment for their crops.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister also announced Rs 1crore for Sri Anandpur Sahib Youth Clubs.
Earlier, MLA Raj Kumar Verka termed the debt waiver offarm labourers and landless farmers a historic step towards the realization ofRajiv Gandhi’s vision. Lauding Captain Amarinder as ‘Vikas Purush’ and saviourof Punjab’s rights, he said the scheme launched today was just the beginning ofa “Kushal Punjab.”