Expressing anguish and concern over a spate of farmer suicides in Punjab in the past than 24 hours, Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh has urged the debt-ridden farmers of the state to refrain from taking such an extreme step as their woes would end soon, once the Congress takes over the reins of Punjab post elections, while promising to avenge the death of every single farmer falling prey to the Badal government's anti-farmer policies.In a statement, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president said the suicides by three-debt ridden farmers, and another by a farmer duped of his hard-earned money by a chit fund company agent, had exposed the lies of the Badal government on the issue of mounting farm loans and farmer problems in the state.Captain Amarinder lambasted the Badals for indulging in politicization of his farm loan waiver promise while farmers were killing themselves under debt burden. He exhorted the farmers to give him the chance to fulfill his debt waiver promise.
The crisis arising out of the debts of the farmers, who were finding it difficult to survive in the circumstances, was deteriorating every day, said Captain Amarinder. And instead of trying to find ways of resolving the problems of the aggrieved farmers, the Badals were busy playing politics on the issue, going to the extent of misleading the people over the Congress party’s avowed commitment to waive off all farm loans on priority basis, immediately after coming to power in the state.The Punjab Congress president blamed the Badals for allowing the situation to get out of hand in the first place by not providing any succour to the farming community and then trying to mislead them into believing that their problems would remain unresolved even if the Congress comes to power in the state.With the Badals indulging in all kinds of falsehoods on the issue, the farmers in Punjab are clearly losing hope of any resolution of their debt problem and are resorting to suicide as the only way out of their crisis, said Captain Amarinder, exhorting the farming community not to lose hope and not to get carried away by the lies being perpetuated by the Badals.
The corrupt Badals and their cronies have been indulging in all kinds of scams, including the Rs. 31000 crore foodgrain scam and the Rs. 17000 crore pesticide scam, which have badly affected the farming community. To further aggravate their plight, the Badals have deliberately messed up the procurement and payment process, causing the farmers to be further burdened by mounting debts, Captain Amarinder pointed out, citing the delay in harvesting of crop in the border villages due to the war hysteria whipped up by the Narendra Modi government as another contributory factor to the problem.Coupled with the demonetisation woes, the anti-farmer policies of the Badal-led Akali government have plunged the farming community into a pitiable situation, from which they can see no way out, Captain Amarinder lamented. He asserted that the Badals would be made to pay for every single farmer death once he takes over the state’s reins after the Assembly elections.The PPCC president reminded the farmers that he had promised to waive off every single paisa of their debt once he forms the next government in the state. He said he was personally committed to ensuring that not a single farmer’s life is lost due to debt and the his government would take over all the debts of Punjab’s farmers and make sure that the farmers do not have to a pay a penny out of their own pockets to settle their loans.