Indians Immigrate To Canada In Record Numbers
Chandigarh, June 21
Rs 8,500 crore — this is the total debt of 8.75 lakh small and marginal farmers and 1.45 lakh farmers with additional sources of income in Punjab, being waived by the Congress government in five annual instalments. In an interview to The Tribune, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said his government had fulfilled the most important promise made to Punjabis by the Congress before the elections, just as it heads to complete 100 days in office on Friday. The final scheme of debt relief will be notified within two months, after all modalities had been worked out with cooperative, regional and commercial banks that had advanced crop loans to farmers, he said. The CM, who could not attend the House proceedings for two days because of his ill health, said a five-member committee was also being appointed to look into the debt taken by landless farmers and labourers, so that some relief could be granted to them. “The Opposition has been trying to find holes in our debt relief scheme, saying that only Rs 1,500 crore has been allocated for debt relief for 10.2 lakh farmers. They are unwilling to accept that we have taken such a bold step… Rs 1,500 crore is just the first instalment. Each year, for the next five years, we need to pay Rs 1,700 crore to the banks after the government takes over the entire loan. It is between the government and the banks now as to how much we pay each year to settle the entire amount,” he said. Amarinder further said: “The data available with us, after the interim report by the T Haque committee, reveals that 8.75 lakh small and marginal farmers (with land holding of less than 5 acres) have taken average crop loans of Rs 2 lakh each – which is being completely waived. The remaining 1.45 lakh small and marginal farmers have taken loans worth Rs 11 lakh to Rs 12 lakh on an average. They will get a relief of Rs 2 lakh each. Families of around 8,000 farmers, who have committed suicide because of their debt burden, will get a complete waiver.
