Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to waive off the loans of the suffering farmers if he was really serious about alleviating their woes in the wake of his demonetisation move.Reiterating his vow to waive off all farm loans in Punjab once the Congress come to power in the state, Captain Amarinder said Modi’s failure to announce loan waiver for the farmers was lamentable and indicated his lack of seriousness in addressing the concerns of the agricultural community, which had been plunged into a major crisis due to note-bandi.Noting that the symbolic sops he had announced for farmers in his New Year eve address to the nation were not enough to rescue the farming community from the crisis into which they had been plunged due to note-bandi, Captain Amarinder said Modi had failed to announce debt waiver even though the Congress had recently submitted to him more than one crore forms from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh farmers seeking waiver of their loans.
Captain Amarinder expressed anguish at the prime minister’s failure to address the farmers’ plea, but promised the farmers of Punjab that his government will take immediate steps to settle all their debts and they would not have to pay a single penny out of their pockets to repay their loans.Instead of making it easier for them to take loans from banks and other institutions, Modi should have, in his address, announced loan waiver for the farmers, reeling under huge debts and even resorting to suicide as a result of the burden, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president said, in a statement issued here.Citing media reports, Captain Amarinder pointed out that hundreds of farmers were committing suicide in the country every year, with Punjab being one of the worst affected states, necessitating urgent intervention by the government to rescue the farming community for the crisis that had been aggravated by the demonetisation policy of the prime minister.Captain Amarinder said farmers in his state, once known as India’s food bowl, had been forced to resort to distress selling following the ill-conceived and ill-executed note-bandi scheme of the Modi government.
He expressed anguish and concern over reports that the farmers had been selling their produce at rock-bottom prices and were even ploughing/destroying tomatoes etc due to their inability to sell the same.First the Badal government’s anti-farmer policies brought them to the brink of bankruptcy, with procurement delays and failure to make timely MSP payments. Now demonetisation has aggravated their woes to such an extent that they are being forced to get rid of their produce at abominably low prices, leaving them with no money to even survive, leave alone save, said Captain Amarinder.Farmers have no money to pay the agricultural labourers while the traders have no money to give to the farmers, said Captain Amarinder, adding that the farmers did not have sufficient funds to meet the expenses of their families and agricultural needs.With traders having no money to pay them, the farmers are forced to borrow money at high interest rates from the commission agents, said the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president.The situation, said Captain Amarinder, was critical and needed immediate intervention to save the farmers, many of whom had already resorted to suicide due to heavy debt burdens under the Badal regime.Blaming Modi squarely for failing to properly implement the demonetisation policy, Captain Amarinder pointed out that even after the 50 days promised by the prime minister, the chaos and problems faced by the people as a result of the note-bandi continue unabated, with the prime minister still evidently oblivious to the problems caused by his arbitrary decision.